While listening to National Public Radio this morning, I heard an interview with Financial Times columnist Lucy Kellaway on the mass “thank you’s” that are so prevalent at this time of year.  You know, those “thank you” messages from senior management, in which they express their appreciation for our hard work, commitment and passion. You’ve probably gotten one, whether you’re a slacker or a star, because they’re broadcast to everyone.

In the interview—as well as in her original column—Lucy makes it clear that these indiscriminate and impersonal expressions of gratitude don’t mean much to those who receive them, and may even do more harm than good. This got me thinking. Maybe this would be a suitable analogy for the way in which people view irrelevant and ill-considered advertising?

In a recent article titled “Anywhere the Eye Can See, It’s Likely to See an Ad,” New York Times reporter Louise Story draws attention – as if we need it – to the plethora of ads that threaten to cover every surface.

Louise writes, “Add this to the endangered list: blank spaces. Advertisers seem determined to fill every last one of them. Supermarket eggs have been stamped with the names of CBS television shows. Subway turnstiles bear messages from Geico auto insurance. Chinese food cartons promote Continental Airways. US Airways is selling ads on motion sickness bags. And the trays used in airport security lines have been hawking Rolodexes.”

The last example reminds me of another recent innovation - advertising on supermarket conveyor belts. What are these advertisers thinking? By the time shoppers see these ads, the cashiers will be ringing up their orders. At that point, it’s unlikely that many shoppers will dash back into the aisles for another item, even if the ad did remind them of something they needed or wanted to try.

The article also quotes Linda Kaplan Thaler, chief executive at the Kaplan Thaler Group, a New York ad agency, as saying, “We never know where the consumer is going to be at any point in time, so we have to find a way to be everywhere. Ubiquity is the new exclusivity.”

This quote may have been taken out of context, but—forgive me—this is the sort of baloney that is helping to undermine belief in the effectiveness of advertising the world over. There is nothing “exclusive” about having your brand’s name stuck indiscriminately on toilet doors, stair steps, or lamp posts. And if you don’t know where your consumer is going to be, then you have not done your research properly.

To my mind, this shotgun approach to advertising is the equivalent of the shotgun approach to thanking staff by e-mail. The communication which results appears impersonal and thoughtless, and usually conveys the unintended message that the sender does not really care about the recipient.  Worse still, it may undermine the credibility of any subsequent communication from the sender, even if it is more relevant and more personal.

So marketers out there, please think twice before signing up for mass marketing efforts that just stick your brand name in front of people regardless of context. Just think how you feel when your boss thanks you—along with the slacker down the row–for your contribution last year. Now think how your customer feels when they see your brand’s name plastered on some irrelevant object. Do they admire the brand more as a result? Do they respect it more? Or do they just think it is self-interested and insincere?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 8:55 pm and is filed under Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Print this Page