WHY IS THERE STILL SO MUCH BAD ADVERTISING?

When you see advertising on television such as Mel Lastman desperately screaming at viewers that it’s good to buy Canadian made furniture, or any kind of advertising that makes you immediately flip to another station or, in my case throw the nearest pillow at the TV set, you have to ask why are so many companies still choosing to produce advertising that talks, even yells at people instead of engaging them. I think it comes down to education. These advertisers simply haven’t been introduced to the strategic process that allows for insights that lead to a solid brief, that leads to brilliant advertising.

And, it is this process and the level of brilliance available at good creative shops that makes clients win big and grab big chunks of market share. I suppose it is a little like someone who doesn’t know what makes a good story, or a good joke. Or someone who looks at an abstract painting by Pollack or de Kooning and sees something “anyone can do”. Until they try it. These are classically trained artists. They are remarkably talented drawers and painters who chose abstract. At the Dali Museum in St, Petersburg Florida it’s worth seeing Dali’s work from the start of his career, essentially interpreting the great genres such as cubism and impressionism, and then finding his stride and unique expression. 

Business owners are consumers and often look at a great commercial and say, “I could have done that.” But they can’t because when the great creative teams get it right, they make it look easy. But it is not. Making it look easy is the result of a lucidly perfect creative brief developed by the agency and client, and brilliant creative teams who know the magic of taking a brief and turning it into engaging, unique art.