What A Waste Of Advertising Money! A view on Philippine advertising and Philippine Marketing.
today's AMAZING TV AD : honda's "cog" 2 minute tv spot
for more on this, go to this post : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2008/04/cog-honda-tv-spot-another-amazing-ad.html; april 14 post.
the inspiration is mount pinatubo when some years ago, all of a sudden, after decades of being dormant, it decided to erupt, spewing debris and ash several kilometers high, blowing ashes to float everywhere, far and wide, turning the skies gloomy gray as far away as metro manila, hundreds of kilometers away, covering metro manila streets and rooftops with thick ash. the pinatubo eruption was so powerful that its ashes changed the color of sunsets not only in the philippines but also worldwide.
that's what happens when clients and advertising agencies decide to run ads not worthy to be called advertising. its dark, its huge and very irritating and unfortunately, everywhere!
all they are doing is wawam! what a waste of advertising money!
here is a first row view of Philippine Advertising and Philippine Marketing.
mount pinatubo erupts shooting ashes several kilometers high, then floating to blanket many other towns hundreds of kilometers away
new comments from WAWAM! readers
click to view comment in full. also, give us your own comment on any of the posts.
please note that comments are being posted here on a delayed basis, unfortunately, by a few hours from time of posting, so it seems. that is due to two things : (a) all comments are being moderated and (b) this program shows the comments on a delayed basis, not real time.
if you want to read the latest comments, go to the post itself and click "comments".
i thought this was a joke, but it's for real, microsoft has launched the pool-out of their seinfeld tv spot. the one where they intend to spend $300M on. and the one that is supposed to address microsoft's weakening brand image.
we're posting it here for everyone to view it while we sit and watch this over and over again to try to understand the ad.
this ad was developed by an award winning ad agency, with a track record of success. it must be real good. will be back soon!
ads are supposed to be self-explanatory, not to mention they are supposed to be interesting. advertising talks about ad clutter and the fight for the attention of the audience. ads don't just fight against invisible enemies like boredom and disinterest, they also fight against a very concrete and real enemy -the tv remote control unit and the dreaded "change channel" button.
you know an ad is in trouble, that you have done a lousy ad and it's a WAWAM! when you lose on all fronts, above. the first sign and this is an absolute disaster, is when you find yourself having to defend and explain the meaning of an ad you just launched.
and that is what micrsosoft has been doing on their seinfeldtv ad since they launched their tv spot last thursday.
WAWAM! is again posting a link to this ad so that readers of this blog can watch it again.
after being in the advertising industry for a long time, i normally have to see an ad only once and i can tell if it's a good ad or not. it comes with years of training and thousands of ads that i have viewed and analyzed. i only view an ad more than once, usually 3 at the most when i need to make a formal analysis of it, something written and there is something wrong with it and need to find exactly what went wrong. this microsofttv spot, i had to view 6 times.
after becoming a veteran watcher of this tv spot, i think i have found the secret meaning of the ad. as i have said, the power and the meaning of this ad is not obvious. it's not at all self-explanatory and that is why i embarked on a self-exploration of the tv spot.
since the meaning of this ad is not self-explanatory, i am forcing myself to draw the meanings from it :
the ad is about the problems of vista -- if at first install, there's a problem with it, over time, with hard work and lots of fixing, it becomes ok. that's what happened to the shoes bill gates bought. they didn't fit at first but with some stretching and a change in size, it turned out ok.
talks about value - with bill gates himself buying cheap shoes, it tells you that windows is good value on the long term. who would imagine bill gates buying cheap shoes? there is supposed to be humor in that. please, laugh.
the everyday-ness of the ad talks about how we use windows on a daily basis. and that it holds promise for the future. that's the last part of the ad. really, it is.
why bill gates wiggled his behind to fix his shorts is another story all together. don't ask me about that, i don't know everything. i guess there is also humor in that? laugh, please.
conclusion - yes, it's a boring ad. it suffers from a bad case of ADS! Sindrome. i had to firce myself to pick out those meanings from the ad.
the microsoft chief marketing officer said the ad was meant to start a conversation. first time i have heard of an ad like that and i honestly do not know what he means exactly by that.
aren't ads supposed to build brand equity? build brand image? persuade people? what happened to those? does that mean this ad is really not an ad? it's like a teaser for future ads?
it seems to me its all an excuse for coming up with a boring ad. if it's just talk or discussion that is their objective, they have achieved it. people are talking about it but unfortunately for the wrong reasons. most of the talk that has occurred centered on why they don''t like the ad and asking each other what the ad means. why spend money on ad that is not really an ad?
if this is just a teaser ad for future ads, i am totally scared to see the next ones! this ad is like a sample of what is to come, a track record established and it does not make me feel excited about the next ads. if the teaser ad is this boring, how can be next one do better?
Microsoft tries to explain Seinfeld ad Deborah Gage Saturday, September 6, 2008 Did you "get" the new Microsoft commercial? Apparently, some people didn't, so Microsoft officials were calling reporters Friday to explain it. --- Nevertheless, the Microsoft officials who phoned reporters Friday said it is indeed a campaign to brand Windows, "the start of a conversation ... easily the largest marketing campaign we've ever had."
For Individuals - we have received quite a number of queries from individuals both from client and ad agency sides on specific projects they are working on. They wanted an outsider's point of view to sharpen the thinking, discover new landscapes or just to get inspired. We have answered all of them and we are offering this service to everyone.
Clients and ad agencies who need additional hands and brains may also avail of it's Consultancy service.
For Clients - it's not easy get a new advertising agency. We will provide innovative and quick solutions to looking for a new ad agency. Clients will benefit from getting an ad industry insider's view.
For Ad Agencies - to grow and even just to survive, ad agencies need new clients and new businesses. We will provide that extra hands and dedicated work on the Ad Agency's pitches for new businesses.
As it has been done, we commit to privacy and confidentiality. Send an email to wawam.email@gmail.com for inquiries.
WAWAM! One-on-one Mentoring Services For Individuals
competitive ads analysis
competitive brands moves analysis
competitor weakness identification
consumer insight generation and critique
consumer research analysis, insight extraction
consumer research planning, development
marketing plan critique, improvement, unblocking
oral presentation skills improvement
powerpoint presentation improvement, development
recommendation, plans and documents improvement
storyboard critique and improvement
WAWAM! Marketing & Advertising Consultancy For Clients & Ad Agencies
Account Planning Session
Account Servicing Training & Revitalization
Advertising & Communication Plans Review & Action
Brand Architecture Strategic Development
Brand Management Structure Review
Consumer & Market Research Analysis
Consumer Insight Authorship
Hire A New Advertising Agency For Clients
Lead Pitch For New Businesses/ New Clients For Ad Agencies
Ano Daw Sabi? Sindrome (ADS? Sindrome)
when an ad is unclear in what it is saying, that is the reaction you have -Ano Daw Sabi? (what did it say?).
and whenever an advertising has ADS?, it's actually a "sin" to the client and to the business of the brand.
if an ad is unclear in what it is trying to say, or even just parts of it, what is it's reason for being then? it can be just 10 seconds of the ad or the whole 30 seconds, any second that has the ADS? Sindrome makes the whole ad a WAWAM!
the ADS? Sindrome is a specific malady that makes the ad a WAWAM!
everyone is welcome to join WAWAM! and post here. advertising and marketing practitioners, students of marketing and advertising or anyone who has something to say about advertising or who just wants to be heard are welcome to join WAWAM!.
send an email to wawam.authors@gmail.com and we will send an invite to allow you to post here.
you're in advertising or brand management and you got ads (tv, radio, print, billboard or brochures/flyers, etc.), give WAWAM! a copy and let's discuss it here. give us the link in YouTube if it's posted there already.
know of an ad in YouTube you want to talk about, give us the link! it can be any ad, something you worked on or one your company or friend did or something you just find interesting.
WAWAM! is adding a new section and we're calling it "Brain Food".
Brain Food is where you can find titles of books to read on marketing and advertising and the occasional books on management and leadership.
Unless stated otherwise, these books are available in the Philippines. If available, will also post links, excerpts or reviews of the books featured here. These will be posted in the main blog section but from time to time will post them in this section for quick access.
For easy access, all Brain Food posts will be tagged. To access all the Brain Food posts, Just click "Brain Food" in the "inside WAWAM!" section.
Also, tell us of any interesting book you have read and will post them in Brain Food.
view synopsis here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2008/08/brain-food-4-good-to-great-by-jim.html
tracking start august 10, 2008
the anti-WAWAM! word of the day
> Advertising Budget As An Investment : getting your brand in the minds of consumers do not happen overnight. If you want this to be there quickly and strongly, you need to spend for it. Also, there's a reason why the advertising expense is called an "investment". why? think about it.
the anti-WAWAM! words of past
> Advertising Budget As An Investment : getting your brand in the minds of consumers do not happen overnight. If you want this to be there quickly and strongly, you need to spend for it. Also, there's a reason why the advertising expense is called an "investment". why? think about it.
> Brand Character - often glossed over and mostly misunderstood, but is a powerful brand separator and more importantly a powerful cause for WAWAM! brand character success may not be the most powerful success factor but it's a powerful pull down to failure.
> Consumer Insight - a consumer insight is NOT a consumer research finding. if you took the words out of a consumer research finding and wrote it in as a consumer insight, you are in the wrong track.
> Consumer Insight - if you don't have one, DO NOT proceed with your product or advertising launch. do so only if you have a consumer insight.
> Consumer Insight - neither is a consumer insight a marketing objective or problem and not an advertising objective or problem. if your consumer insight sounds very much like these, you are in the wrong track, in a horribly wrong track. change it quickly!
> Entertainment Value - tv spots are aired on TV whose primary role in our lives is to provide entertainment. if your ad does not entertain in some way, why air in a medium meant for entertainment?
> Tag Line : the art and discipline of a great tag line has been lost and it seems it is no longer in practice. A poor or weak tag line means you don't really have an ad concept
> Talents - if you chose a talent to appear on an ad just on the basis of looks alone, you are in the wrong track. Acting ability is obviously needed, but there are a few intagibles that you need to look out for.
> Target Audience - if what you have in your advertising and marketing plan is just a statement of demographics, you are in the wrong track. even if you added psychographics, you're still in the wrong track. make your target definition work hard!
> WAWAM! - What A Waste Of Advertising Money! mostly advertising materials that are failures, unable to inform, persuade or build an image or build business for the brand. they are advertising where good money is spent on bad things. it's impact is equivalent to not spending money at all.
copyright 2008
contents of this blog are protected by intellectual property rights and may not be reproduced, copied or distributed in part or as a whole in whatever form without written permission from the author and owner of this blog
i thought this was a joke, but it's for real, microsoft has launched the pool-out of their seinfeld tv spot. the one where they intend to spend $300M on. and the one that is supposed to address microsoft's weakening brand image.
Posts
