Astonish Your Customer(s)

.01

That is your brand's share of voice if you spend $20,000,000 on advertising. One-tenth of one percent.  

Not true, you say. I spend $15,000,000 and I have a 30% share of voice.

Most brand managers fool themselves into thinking that their brand only competes against their direct competitors for the attention, interest and awareness of the public. Your brand is competing against, well, every other brand, across every category. It's true and it's frightening for most marketers.

So, unless you have a very narrow and clearly identified audience, that also can definitely be reached by a very narrow communication channel, what is your likelihood of breaking through, even with $20M?  

That is why the epi-center of your marketing effort must reside in product innovation, real innovation that creates products that are both relevant and remakable. By creating that type of product, you give your brand and your advertising a chance and you super charge the communication effort because people who use the product will start marketing it for you as well, which begets press coverage and so on.

Use the $20 MM first to get the product right and then communication becomes easy, or at least easier.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

(TY: Eating The Big Fish)

Views and Sales

Evian just broke a Guinness Record, as the most viewed online advertisement with 45 million views. Here's the very brief article in Brand Republic, which includes the video and remark by EURO RSCG, the creator of the ad.

According to the man behind the ad, Global Creative Director, Remi Babinet, "The Evian campaign has succeeded in proving that creativity at the same time can be very qualitative and very universal."

Huh?  

Not one mention of the impact on sales, not even in some generalized way.  

What's the use of being "qualitative", "universal" and "most viewed", if it does not substantially increase sales? Don't get me wrong, I like great creative but I like advertising that pays for itself better.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

Spend but verify

Ad Age reports the following costs for 30 second spots.

• Sunday Night Football $339,000
• Extreme Makeover $136,000
• Desperate Housewives $228,000
• Two and Half Men $226,000
• Big Bang Theory $191,000
• NCIS $133,000
• SNL $122,000
• Flash Forward $175,000
• Dateline $55,000 

Hefty, hefty spends that brand managers are all too eager to approve. I wonder how many brand managers even know the cost of a spot they approve? Is there even one brand manager that would bet one paycheck on how many sales dollars one of these spots will generate? 

Common refrains: If share goes up, marketers tend to credit the advertising. If share stays flat, they often say - Well, thanks to the advertising, we held share in a competitive market. If share goes down, they either change the creative or rationalize - Would have been worse without the great creative and spend.

Easy to spend someone else's money or money that is already in the budget or profit dollars that exceed the plan. If you can't prove that it works, why do it? 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.