Cup of Java

Thinking, Surfing, Procrastinating

"In advertising not to be different is virtually suicidal." ~ William Bernbach

Good ol' Will. How true. And it's really amazing how many companies don't seem to realize this. They want to be just like their competitors. Why? Find your niche. Be different. It's really ok. Heck, even if you do what 'the other guy' is doing, but have a lower price, that's something. I've been working at a company that seems to be stuck in the "they are doing it, so we should do it too" state of mind and it's really making me nuts. There's a lot of potential I see but from the bit I see (which I do have to say isn't all that much), they really are missing the bullseye. Sometimes the only thing I can do to not have it drive me crazy is to put on my headphones, and crank up the music while I work. It's sad really. And a bit depressing for me to see that these people have jobs and seem not to know what they are doing. And it's not only here I see this but throughout the marketing/advertising world. Clients become afraid to be different. They may not have a unique selling point (USP) but that doesn't mean that they cannot brand themselves in a different fashion from their competition. Can anyone say "image"? Sometimes it seems like the most basic of advertising and marketing principles get forgotten.

The creator of the Beanz Meanz Heinz campaign, Maurice Drake has something to say about Heinz threatening to ditch their 35-year-old slogan in favour of something more modern. "Mr Drake, a former copywriter at ad agency Young & Rubicam who also worked on the "Everyone's a Fruit and Nut Case" campaign for Cadbury, said the trend was symptomatic of a malaise in the advertising industry. 'Creatives used to be quite interested in the business of advertising. They'd be really keen to find out the sales figures because then they'd know whether their campaign had worked. But why bother using your imagination when you can spend £100,000 on special effects? Now you have all these, 'Look at me, aren't I adventurous' campaigns that are full of special effects and are instantly forgettable,' said Mr Drake."

Check out the results of a recent survey of the top 10 advertising slogans in the UK. Interestingly enough, no slogans from the last decade made it to the list. Maybe Mr. Drake is on to something...

State of creative biz- survey done by the Creative Group says that morale is picking up in the advertising and marketing industries. Let's hope so! I'm tired of freelancing.