January 27, 2005
“exploding advertising”
Jeff Jarvis wrote something wonderful today:
Advertisers: You have lost control of your message. Get over it.
: VW [Volkswagon] is going berserk over the parody ad that showed a terrorist blowing himself up inside a small but tough sedan. The company is demanding apologies and threatening to sue.
Sorry, guys. That VW has already left the barn.
You are no longer in control of your message, advertisers. You can fight it or you can embrace it.
Learn the lesson from the music industry. They fought. They lost. Big media is trying to learn that lesson now. TV is trying to learn that lesson. Your turn, advertisers.
If you embrace this, I’ll just bet you will find something amazing happen: You will find that your customers are better at marketing your products than you are.
Oh, I know your fear: ‘But what these people say will be off message!’ Well, then, maybe your message is off.
Advertisers want to control the conversation; that is human nature. Whether you’re selling a $5 billion brand or a corner taco stand, you’d rather have folk talking about what you want, not what they want.
My advice has been the same for a while: “Control the conversation by improving the conversation.“
I don’t think it’s rocket science. The wonderful Budweiser Lizards didn’t “sell” the beer… But I do think because of them, at least for a little while, that talking about Budweiser was more fun and interesting than it was before before the Lizards came around.
It goes back to my whole “Smarter Conversations” schtick etc etc.
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Customer created ads = smarter conversations?
Hugh,
I’m a believer in Cluetrain and a huge fan of your blog but I just don’t see it. A contest open to everyone to create an ad does not a conversation make. I think their are far better ways to facilitate smarter conversations than this. I know you don’t quote that part of Jeff’s post but that is what he’s arguing.
Yes, Jayme, I actually agree with you on that one.
What is the message of an advert?
Do stupid embassadors eat ferro roche chocolate?
Do the buyers of a car magically get empty roads without speed limits?
Do families really get over excited about a new kind of air freshener?
Does the DFS sofa sale never end?
Some time ago I forced myself to listen to the words in TV advertising. This was a serious mistake as now I cannot hear or read an ad without noticing what it DOESN’T say about a product and
the curious use of some words — such as the ambiguous use of the word “can” (which can be read as “will” but in ads is always used as “might” but with the hope the view will hear “will”)
And don’t get me started on the word “upto”
Every time I hear about a company scrambling to sue something off the Internet I’m reminded of a quote by Joe Rogan’s character on NewsRadio (the sitcom): “You can’t take something off the Internet. That’s like trying to take the pee out of a swimming pool!”
Some advertising works on us. Some of it doesn’t. We tend to notice the ones that don’t work, more than we notice the ones working.
Because we notice the ones not working the most, we assume that advertising doesn’t work.
Even when you have the best data sitting in front of you on your desk, it all remains rather nebulous.
The words
wake
up
smell
the
and
coffee
… come to mind. Or as that Harry Enfield character would put it:
“Oi, Volkswagen. Naaaaaaah!”
Interesting … here we go again with the Ad / PR agencies comparisions… It’s all about the myth of control on this side as well. We try to convince not only our clients but ourselves that we can control the message and any interactions with the media through agressive media training (at a premium of course) and shedloads of ‘message development’ sessions.
Of course it’s all a myth. It’s only some of us who have that figured out though.
Don’t you think these vague ads are just trying to hit us on s subconcious level using a different kind of conversation(visual), creating a subconcious desire (they hope will well up to a boil) where there wasn’t one before. They sometimes work and sometimes backfire I suppose (duh) but they do generate a buzz, and a buzz is good. They can’t sell anything with the standard verbal BUY IT NOW YOU NEED IT! tactic anymore because the market is on to that, so it’s all artisitc, or silly or moody. They’re trying to sell what’s really needed (imagination) unfortunately you can’t really buy that from a car company. However step this way and I have a magic elixir for all you soul needs.…;)
Yeah, not sure the conversations get necessarily smarter just because the internet allows for more microphones in the hall.
Even “conversation” is iffy — it implies at some level that there are (at least) two parties interested in civil, toward-common-ground or new vistas discourse. that’s prolly a stretch. a big one.
some people just enjoy taking (clever?) potshots from the cheapseats. now that’s human nature. but at least the possibility for smart wizzy convo is there.
Nothing too very philosophical here, mates. In regards to your post about the Budweiser Frogs: I worked in Seattle and Portland for a while in the 80’s and early 90’s and got aquainted with the marvelous Rainier Beer TV campaign of the 60’s 70’s and 80’s.
And one spot specifically that had frogs in a bog croaking Rainier’s Tagline “Mount-ain-fresh-ness” and “Raiii-nneeerr”.
The Budweiser frogs are a total and complete rip off of terry heckler’s work, and Goodby (or whoever) should be ashamed.
I can only wonder how long it will be until they come after me…
Do you remember the old VW parody ad that ran in the National Lampoon? It was a print ad that showed a VW Beatle floating in a river. The caption was “If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagon, he’d be president today.“
If Volkswagon is going berserk they did not learn anything from the spoof 30 years ago – they reacted in the same “Old School” way. They need to get on the Hughtrain.