why the mad men are mad at us
DESCRIPTION
Our world is changing. Advertising agencies blew the web opportunity the first time around, but they’re not going to let this happen again. They’re smart. They understand communication. They can run persuasive rings around BJ Fogg. And they’ve been doing user research since before Jakob Nielsen was born. The last couple of years, IAs have learned to appreciate business thinkers like Philip Kottler and Peter Drucker. Now it’s time to get acquainted with the ad industry’s pioneers: Claude Hopkins, John Caples, Rosser Reeves, Bill Bernbach, and David Ogilvy. This presentation will take a closer look at what ad agencies consider “good” advertising, how they interpret “concept,” and why our notion of “proof of concept” is completely nonsensical in the world of advertising. I’ll show you some successful campaigns and some award-winning campaigns -- these are not necessarily the same thing -- and explain out why these are admired or condemned by so-called “creatives” at ad agencies.TRANSCRIPT
Why the Mad Men are mad at us
Eric Reiss@elreiss
IA Summit30 March 2014
San Diego, USA
A politically incorrect review
Jacques Séguéla
“Don’t tell my mother I work inan advertising agency. She thinksI play piano in a whorehouse.”
Jacques Séguéla
Big Al’s Brothel(one flight up)
ad· ver· tiseverb
1 : inform, notify2 : to call public attention to esp. in order to sell
where the best cloth is woven to your desires,a whole gold coin is offered”
“For the return of my slave to the shop of Haputhe Weaver,
We can’t expect Don to understandhow we think
until we understandhow Don thinks
Three ways that guaranteewe lose our place at the table
Insisting we invented user research
Misunderstanding “concept”
Humiliating established art directors
A brief history of advertising
We all know thatJakob invented user testing...
1925
John Caples
1932 >
“Accept nothing as true aboutwhat works best in advertisinguntil it has been scientificallytested.”
John Caples1932
OK. But we really understand research...
1908
Claude Hopkins
1930 >
“Talk to the people who are goingto buy your product. This is thefirst step in any successful campaign”
Claude Hopkins1930
Well, B.J. taught us about trustbuilding ...
And Kristina taught us aboutthe value of content...
1960
1962 >1983 >
David Ogilvy
“What really decides consumersto buy or not to buy is the contentof your advertising, not its form.”
David Ogilvy1962
A few other advertising legends ...
Rosser Reeves
“Find the USP.”
Leo Burnett
“Find the drama.”
Bill Bernbach
“Tell the story”
Phyllis Robinson
“Tell the story”
Meet the Mattel See ’n Say
problem ?
Jeez, Eric, what’s the
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
AIDA
“The secret of all effective originalityin advertising is not the creation ofnew and tricky words and pictures,but one of putting familiar wordsand pictures into new relationships.”
“The secret of all effective originalityin advertising is not the creation ofnew and tricky words and pictures,but one of putting familiar words
“The secret of all effective originalityin advertising is not the creation ofnew and tricky words and pictures,but one of putting familiar wordsand pictures into new relationships.”
Leo Burnett1956
Winter landscape
Scene of the crime
What makes a “See ’n Say”the lowest form of advertising?
It relies oneyecatching irrelevancy!
Forcing a see ’n say
See ’n Say is acceptable for illustrations
(but only just)
See ’n Say is fine for logos
(because they are icons)
“Sex sells”
Helen Resor
“Sex sells.”
Babies, boobs, and beagles
Pseudo-creativity
Tell the story
Find the drama
Photo courtesy of Mark Hurst
Apogee – a lesson learned ... and forgotton
Ad agencies don’t always get it right either
“Do you want fine writing?Or do you want your fuckingsales to go up?”
Rosser Reeves1961
Let’s turn to the concept of concept
In advertising, concept represents the
big idea
In the web world,concept represents ... er ...
In advertising, there is only oneproof of concept
Now entering the mind of the art director
Now entering the mind of the art director
Let’s kill a myth
“All advertisingis good advertising.”
They
Fact:
A Milwaukee brewer found outsales fell among target audiences that
could remember their advertising!
1972
1982
1984
Bernice Fitz-Gibbon
1967 >
Webmaster WebmasterVisual designerCopywriter
DeveloperVisual designerInformation architectCopywriter
Front-end engineerFull-stack developerVisual designerUI designerInteraction designerContent strategistInformation architectContent providersSEO consultantSocial media guruProduct managerProject managerToken baby boomer
1995 1998 2000 2014
“Creativity varies inversely withthe number of cooks involved in the broth.”
Bernice Fitz-Gibbon1967
“In all the parks, in all the cities,you won’t find statues of committees.”
David Ogilvy1962
Eric Reiss can (usually) be found at:
The FatDUX Group ApSStrandøre 152100 CopenhagenDenmark
Office: (+45) 39 29 67 77Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44Twitter: @[email protected]