Don't shoot the Messenger!

Being a parent, as all parents know, requires a type of commitment like no other. One of those commitments is the daily ritual of dropping off and picking up the kids from school, a duty my wife and I share. The other morning, it was my turn to pick my son up from kindergarten.

Bundled up to do battle against the sub-zero temperatures I made my way to my son's school. As I stood outside the school waiting, I did my best to ignore the unbearably bitter chill in the air.

As the door to his class finally opened, out bounded my five year-old, filled with enthusiasm and excitement. It was the type of excitement you'd typically see from someone with a Publishers Clearinghouse representative at their front door holding a bouquet of balloons and an over-sized facsimile of a certified cheque.

As I caught his eye he raced over to me, calling out "Daddy! Daddy! Guess what!".

Naturally, I immediately became engaged in his excitement, keen to learn what fascinating revelation he was eager to share with me.

The closer he came to me, the more intrigued I became in whatever it was that had sparked such passion in him.

He skidded to a stop in front of me. Out of breath he exclaimed, "Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! I remembered to put my hat and gloves on!!!"

In an instant, he raced past me to the car and hopped inside as I stood there in the cold, dumbfounded.

Now sure, as a parent I was tickled by my son's enthusiasm over what, to any adult would seem such a trivial accomplishment.

As a marketer however, the experience had reminded me of the biggest single mistake made by most advertisers - focusing too much energy on the delivery of the message while ignoring the substance of the message itself.

Using an advertising parallel, my son had done everything right to get my attention. He engaged me in his enthusiasm, he stood out from the other kids around him and intrigued me with the potential of a compelling offer. But sure enough, the actual message he delivered fell short of expectation.

For nearly thirty years, I have worked with all kinds of advertisers, most of whom take great pains to ensure the compelling delivery of their advertising messages. Insisting on award winning creative and expertly placed, precision media buying, advertisers all too often see the art of creating memorable advertising, the delivery of their advertising message, as the golden key to achieving successful advertising results.

In too many cases however, advertisers ignore the importance of the message itself. That's an enormous mistake. In my opinion, such an oversight is the biggest mistake advertisers make.

Years ago, as a radio station Creative Director, I had a sales rep who came to me with a challenge given to her by a potential new client.

The client, she explained, wanted to 'test' the effectiveness of radio. To do so, the advertiser had offered to make a small radio buy promoting a ten percent sale on children's shoes. The sales rep was keen to have my department produce a brilliant piece of creative to prove to the client that radio advertising was effective.

She handed me a short creative brief outlining the details of the sale. No sooner had she handed me the brief than I handed it right back to her. She stood staring at me, brief in hand, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Give the client back his money." I suggested.

The puzzled look now turned into full shock and horror.

"What?! You don't think we can prove radio works?" she challenged.

"Radio works." I replied, "Every medium for delivering an advertising message works to some extent. In this case it's not the medium that won't work, it's the message. Nobody will cross the street to save ten percent on shoes." I explained.

Not to leave her hanging there, I continued with my own challenge, "I'll tell you what. You go back to your client. Give the client back their cheque and tell him I will personally pay for one commercial on this station on his behalf and I'll prove to him that advertising on radio not only works, but done right can achieve overwhelming response."

The look of confusion returned to the sales rep's face. "I don't get it, how can you run one commercial for my client and prove radio advertising works?".

"Here's the deal." I said. "I'll run one commercial at my expense at any time the client wants during regular store hours, but there are two conditions. The first is that I get to create the message. The second condition is that the advertiser must agree to remain open for at least one hour after the commercial runs."

"I still don't get it.", insisted the sales rep.

"It's simple." I said. "My commercial will simply state that every pair of shoes in your advertiser's store is free for the next hour, limit one pair per customer."

"That's ridiculous!" declared the sales rep. "There'd be pandemonium! Chaos! You'd have crowds of people rushing to the store. You'd cause a riot!!!".

At precisely that moment, she dropped her head, realizing the relevance of what she had just said.

Advertising is merely a pipeline, a means of delivering a message. It is the power of that message that plays the most influential role in stimulating a consumer response.

When advertising really hits critical mass is when a compelling, irresistible message is conveyed to a consumer in a compelling, memorable way that drives interest and delivers on expectation at the point of contact.

So next time you sit down with your creative advertising team, before you even begin insisting on the next award winning piece of radio copy or print advertising creative, ask yourself the question, "Have I given my advertising people a compelling message, the ammunition they need to create an ad that will get results?"

If you have and the advertising still proves unsuccessful, blame the creative team. If you haven't however, and you fail to realize the results you set out to achieve, don't shoot the messenger, the culprit is you!

I have to finish off here, my son's just run into my office waving his hand desperately to get my attention. I sure hope there's a Publisher's Clearinghouse representative at the door!