I visited 3rd Ward last week (Brooklyn) and saw The Naked Brand, an indie documentary on advertising and branding and all those cool things us twentysomethings are curious about these days.
Advertising has changed a lot since the era of Sterling Cooper. Back then the math [and logic] worked out that ads were the primary revenue driver of all successful enterprises, so if sales were good then execs assumed billboards must have been kicking ass.
Nowadays, however, word-of-mouth (WOM) trumps all copy, graphic, and engagement tricks advertisers might have up their sleeves. Today’s consumer rejects traditional marketing tactics and opts instead for a more genuine display of product- or service-goodness.
A few examples of this shift are infomercials, cooking shows, QVC, and the Home Shopping Network. Oh, and the Charmin toilets in Times Square. Sh*t like that. (get it??)
These productions exist with the sole purpose of selling products, and again, that’s fine. But they don’t do it with 30-second spots or a utopian model spokesman. They sell us with an overweight, bearded, but jolly Billy Mays. They sell us on teenage girls doing the Macarena in Snuggies. And I like that.
Marketing research expert Dr. AK Pradeep made an interesting observation in the film. He said, “One day we’ll all look back at advertising and say, ‘Oh, that’s how they used to do it.’”
What do you think about modern-day advertising? Is it flawed, or are consumers getting exactly what they ask for?