THE DECLINE OF TV

People ask me all the time why there are still so many ads (especially TV ads) that are so very bad. Why do the Lastmans think people will want to shop after seeing their obnoxious ads, whereas IKEA ads by zig are so cool? In my opinion, cool ad equals cool brand. And the proof is in the results. Who shops at Lastman’s Bad Boy? “NoooooBodeee.” Who shops at IKEA? Everybody. Well some people obviously shop at Bad Boy but one IKEA store probably does more revenue in one week than Bad Boy does in a year. And, IKEA has thousands of stores around the world. 

Here’s  why so many bad ads exist. First, good ads are based on having an insight about your target audience. Most advertisers and many agency people don’t know what an insight is, never mind how to find it or express it. Why are insights important? The insight leads to an important message, one thing you want to say. A Big Idea. Secondly, you have to express the big Idea as one thing you want to say. Only one. People don’t remember more than one thing. Many advertisers figure they pay for the space they might as well stuff in as much information as they can. This is the equivalent to a song writer trying to put nine completely different hooks or ten different choruses in a song. You end up with chaos that no one wants to listen to. And, in advertising, the most important thing you want to accomplish is to have people watch/read/listen to you. You have to be engaging.

Finally, it takes experience and talent to take the insight, the big idea and make it work in a way that cuts through clutter. If the creative expression of the big idea is engaging and well-executed, people love to watch it. Witness how many of the best ads get millions of hits on the web through YouTube and other social sites. 

Hey, if it was easy, everyone would do it.