Zimmer’s 12 Causes of Advertising Failures

I just came across an interesting article by Zimmer Creative Services entitled the 12 Causes of Advertising Failures that could be used as a helpful list of guidelines to think about:

1. Desire for instant gratification: Ads promoting urgency and immediate response tend to be forgotten as soon as the offer expires.
2. Attempting to reach more people than the budget will allow: Most media mixes have too much reach and not enough frequency to stick with their audience’s minds. “Will you reach 100% of the people and convince them 10% of the way?  Or will you reach 10% of the people and convince them 100% of the way?”
3. Assuming the business owner knows best: Business owners tend to try to describe themselves from the inside out to people on the outside looking in. In fact, too much product knowledge sometimes results in answering question no one has asked.
4. Unsubstantiated Claims: Claiming to have what the customer wants, but failing to provide evidence. Prove what you say in every ad!
5. Improper use of passive media: such as newspapers and yellow pages often only reach people actively searching for the product.
6. Creating ads instead of campaigns: single ads cannot tell a whole story.
7. Obedience and unwritten rules: like making ads look and sound….like ads!
8. Late week schedules: Making efforts to reach markets on Thursdays and Fridays before they go shopping, instead of less-competitive days like Sundays and Mondays.
9. Overconfidence in qualitative targeting: the importance of qualitative data has been “grossly overestimated.”
10. Event-driven marketing: special events should only be judged by its ability to help define your market position.
11. Great production without great copy: Too many ads today are creative without being persuasive.
12. Confusing ‘response’ with ‘results’: The goal of advertising is to create clear awareness and some advertisers evaluate their ads based on comments they have heard around them.

False Advertising

On a daily basis we are bombarded with advertisements (especially now on the internet) stating “Make $1,500 a week from home!” or “Lose 20 pounds by next weekend!” While some advertisers are more blatant with their empty promises, others choose to put in a little more effort to try to swindle you. The following are examples of some straight-up lies brought to you by commonly – known brands:

Listerine: In 1921, Listerine had advertised its popular mouthwash as a cure-all for sore throats, coughs, dandruff, and also as an anti-shave tonic and a safe way to protect the skin from cuts or bruises. It took until 1975 for the Federal Trade Commission to step in, forcing the company to spend $10 million on corrective advertising.

Amoco Gasoline: In 1996, the U.S. was going through a clear trend revolution; Pepsi was clear, Clearly Canadian dominated supermarket shelves, and Amoco – which had been producing clear gasoline for years, tried to capitalize on this.  They began to newly market their existing product as one that provided superior engine performance and substantial environmental benefits, all because it was clear. When they were unable to provide factual evidence, they were forced to halt the campaign.

L’Oreal: L’Oreal is now forced to put disclaimers on their mascara advertisements after its discovery that Penelope Cruz was wearing false lashes in the Telescopic mascara advertisement; claiming the product boosts lashes by 60%. The Advertising Standards Authority is keeping a close eye on future promotions.