I see Jeff Bezos, even after his divorce, is again richer than anyone else. Quite a few years ago, I wrote a piece about him. Why didn’t he go broke when everyone thought he would? He seemed to be losing …
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Three new heavenly bodies discovered
Recently, to my astonishment, three new planets shot into orbit. They belong to three well known marketing experts. They were already famous for their talents. But now these brilliant thinkers have transmogrified – and become Planets. Planet Kennedy, Planet Levis and Planet Marshall. Who …
Read MoreWhich marketer are you? Amateur or professional? How can you tell?
Yesterday a marketing director told me this revealing story… “Did I ever tell you about my talk to the marketing team at LexisNexis, in about 2013? I was nervous because the person who invited me was fired just before I …
Read MoreSomething to make you think – if you have time to ask important questions – from Mr. Harrison
“How Advertising Can Find Its Purpose” is the title. Well worth a read if you ever wonder whether what you do is worth it. David Ogilvy’s mentor Raymond Rubicam stated flatly that “the only purpose of advertising is to sell. …
Read MoreThe discount online bubble is going pop. So will your business if you’re not careful
Groupon and the others are suffering – and here’s why. With some observations on marketers’ foolish priorities About 30 years ago, Ogilvy and Mather collaborated with Prof. Andrew Ehrenberg and his colleagues to research the impact of discounting. They discovered …
Read MoreDon’t confuse a visual pun with a selling idea
Oh, and make sure people can see your brand name On the last day of EADIM I spent a few minutes going through ads I found in the Evening Standard. I may be a grouchy old bustard, and old men …
Read MoreGood and bad: Lessons you can learn from two ads
Brilliant poster; stupid slogan; and an ad that throws away a good story I apologise for my usual tatty reproduction of these deathless works of art. Actually, I don’t. Your customers do not see them in a pristine condition the …
Read MoreSnakes in shopping centres? Whatever next?
“Imagination is more important than knowledge” – Einstein. But how many marketers know how to use it? Everyone talks about “creativity” – but most confuse it with being different for the sake of being different. One man who has an …
Read MoreTwo of the worst advertisements I saw this week
Which is worse? The wildly inappropriate or the totally incomprehensible? One of these ads is bad. The other is abysmal. If you wish your ads to work they must fit the context and the subject. The ad for SIPPs is bad …
Read MoreAdvertising schizophrenia at Fiat
How can one firm run an ad as good as this – but another so bad it made me groan? Do you ever look at an ad and mutter to yourself, “Wanker”? I do. It’s a sad condition, I know. …
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