Boil It Down For Them, Bubba

By Jim Whelan

Monday, September 10, 2007

Some companies just don't get it.

I was paging through one of the big national magazines looking at some of the ads, and several times I had trouble figuring out just what the ad was for. I decided to see if my wife could figure some of this stuff out, because they say that women are more intuitive than men, and can pick up a vibe better.

So I showed her six or seven ads, and asked her what was being advertised. The first two she got right away, so I was feeling kind of stupid. But then she couldn't figure out the next four, and she took a wild guess at the last one.

My point is this: I'm in the ad business and I couldn't figure out the ads. My wife runs a good sized business and she couldn't figure out the ads. So the chances your customer figures out the ads is slim to none. This is a situation where you need to fire your agency.

The reason you need to fire them is simple. They are wasting your money with their creativity, and nobody out there in buying land knows what the inside joke is.

They are not creating a buying frenzy for your product, which is what you are paying them to do. If the customer can't figure out what the ad means, they ain't buying. And if they ain't buying, you just wasted a lot of money on nothing. You didn't even get a good steak out of the deal.

You know what good creative means?

It means it's raining money.

Nothing else counts.

I don't care if your ad wins every last friggin award in the world.

If it didn't rain money, it sucked.

That is what you tell the agency when you fire them.

"Your ad sucked."

From the big saddle,
Jim Whelan

P.S. At The Joan Randall Agency we go with what works.

Here's a little hint.

UGLY SELLS!!!

Beyond a shadow of doubt.
And it costs less.

Call the Cowboys at 206 407 3124, and get ugly now.