by Paul Ashby

Created on: April 17, 2008

Go for an arresting Claim

Advertising agencies have, for years, been past masters of making an arresting claim whenever they are hazy about facts or logic, which happens to be most of the time!

The world, the media and our own country have for too long indulged advertising by never responding to their abstractions that advertising works and that has suited advertising beautifully.

Now as more and more evidence of the failure of advertising emerges one is forced to admit that advertising is a total business disaster and has been so for many a year!

Remember the Wizard of Oz? When the great curtains of the Emerald City were finally pulled back, Dorothy and her friends foundnothing. Just a small anxious figure who had until then been able to project a big confident illusion. Well, advertising people have been hiding a dreadful secret, they have nothing to hide, nothing to propose, and, worse still, nothing to support their bombastic illusions!

Listen to an ad man speak and you would not gain the impression of a master strategist, towering intellect, communications colossus and business titan whom we underestimate at our peril.

There is a niggling, small-scale dishonesty in the way they use words facts and figures. There is, in advertising people, a paralyzing failure of intellectual confidence together with a yawning absence of true creativity.

Take for example the intellectual nonsense of accountant turned ad man, Sir Martin Sorrell. He recently said "London and New York are no longer the creative centers of the world". Absolute stuff and nonsense, if he, accountant turned ad man Sorrell knew anything about the process of communication he would appreciate the fact that creativity is no longer, if it ever has been, the sole criterion for the success or otherwise of an advertising campaign!

He goes on to talk about the "most financially efficient advertising" again, complete stuff and nonsense there is no such thing as accountability in advertising so nobody knows a dam thing about "financially efficient advertising". See what I mean about niggling small-scale dishonesty in the way they use words?

However I am considering allowing one small advertising statement recently made, to pass as a truth and that is this recent statement made by Publicis Boss, Maurice Lvy, talking about the advertising model he says "it's broke"!. He spoke of "huge challenges ahead for the industry. The very model of our industry is being called into question the model nowadays is no longer valid,

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