Marketing and communication in 2011. How to cut through the crap. #9

SO HERE WE ARE IN 2011. Never has there been a more competitive time to be in the business of marketing. There have never been more ways of spending budgets. There has never been more pressure on budgets. Or, come to that, more theories about what you should and shouldn’t be doing. What is clear is that whilst many are waffling on about this trend and that development, some are simply getting on with doing things that get results. We are some of those people. And this is some of how we do it.

PART 9: DONE WELL, TV IS STILL THE SHORT CUT TO SUCCESS

It might be unfashionable for a creative agency to say it.

After all, a metaphorical torrent of words have been spoken and written over the last few years about digital, emerging media channels, conversation versus interruption, and other such buzzword-ridden tomfoolery.

But however compelling that may or may not be, the fact is that the power of television advertising is still the best short-cut to success for most consumer brands.

That’s not to say that other media can’t work really hard for you (they work very hard for some of our clients).

But TV still has the power to change fortunes more quickly than any other media or channel.

And the great thing is that these days, TV advertising is no longer the preserve of the big consumer brand.

Or the big budget.

With digital channels, online TV viewing platforms, and the ability to target and buy audiences very tightly, the barriers to entry have come down considerably.

This brings the most powerful communication medium of our age within the grasp of almost anybody with a marketing budget.

Over the past couple of years, we've helped some smaller brands make the leap into TV ourselves.

And we're happy to report that they've found the results, let's just say, rewarding.

Oh, and yes, we did say done well.

Much TV advertising just doesn’t make the most of the medium.

A lack of skill in execution makes a lot of TV advertising underperform, and feel underwhelming.

You need to make sure that you’re working with people who have the skill and talent to make the best use of the most powerful medium (and again, this comes back to the subject of Creativity and Craft). 

And don't scrimp on production (more on that next time).


PART 1: CREATIVITY & CRAFT ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
PART 2: THE BEST COMMUNICATION IS STILL ABOUT PEOPLE 
PART 3: FOCUS YOUR COMMUNICATION ON CHANGING BEHAVIOUR, NOT JUST CHANGING ATTITUDE.
PART 4: BE DIFFERENT IN THE CATEGORY
PART 5: DON'T SPEND ALL YOUR TIME & MONEY TALKING TO FANS OF YOUR BRAND
PART 6: BE IMPATIENT & AMBITIOUS WITH YOUR TARGETS
PART 7: REPETITION. REPETITION. REPETITION.
PART 8: BE WARY OF THOSE PROFESSING ABOUT "THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING"