Don't Waste your Marketing Budget

Written by Mary Catharine Grau

What’s that age-old advertising saying? “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” (Thank you, John Wanamaker, for admitting what so many are still afraid to say out loud – and for doing so in the early 20th century.)

As marketers, we are 100% certain of one thing: if the creative is ineffective, all money spent on advertising is wasted.

Bad, ineffective creative was a hot topic during the Big Game Ad Review Party that AMA and AAF hosted on February 4th. Even during the most expensive advertising event of the year, the “Big Game,” there were commercials that simply had no remarkableness to them. And, others that very obviously missed the mark with target audiences. (Ahem, I may be looking at you, Mercedes.)

When this happens — when creative is just so off the mark — we find ourselves surprised because there are many ways to ensure that it speaks to the desired audience. (And when the creative is simply unremarkable, well, that’s a blog post for a different day…)

In this metric-driven world, understanding our target audience and knowing what messaging motivates him/her isn’t simply vital to success; it’s more accessible than ever before.