Re: Why online advertising sucks

From: Rob Frankel <rob_at_robfrankel.com>
Date: Wed 11 Apr 2001 10:04:54 -0600

BRIAN SHEPHERD <shepherd_at_mit.edu> WROTE:

>Well, with all due respect Geri, your mom telling you to
>"shut up" explains a lot about why you're having trouble
>stepping outside of your own experiences and seeing an
>alternative view. I never worked at McCann Erikson, but I
>would bet every dime in my pocket that there is a strategy
>to put the Coke brand in front of select people, as
>aggressively as possible. Geri, please enlighten us as to
>what Coke's strategy is, if it's not to build a strong brand
>and get that brand in front of a potential customer.

First of all, Brian, it's so incredibly obvious that
you and Geri are talking at such different levels of
expertise that to a bystander, it's almost laughable.
Geri has her, um, opinions and that seems to be that.

For the record, in the earlier part of my career, I
did not work at McCann, but I sure worked at a lot of
other big agencies for many international and national
accounts and this was the experience I had:

1. Anything that increased the client's brand awareness
was considered advertising. That included signage, logo
displays, trade show booths, matchbook covers, promotional
mentions. And that makes sense for at least two reasons:
First, it gave the ad agency an opportunity to maximize
the amount of brand exposure they could claim credit for
-- and believe me, they did. If an old lady were to
get run over by a car and the body still had a Goodyear
imprint, they counted it. Second, it provides the basis
for "clutter" studies. As early as the 1970's, the
rule of thumb that was widely accepted throughout the
agency industry was that the average person was
exposed to something like "5,000 ad impressions
per day". Those ad impressions counted everything I
mentioned above, and more.

2. There is no advertising or brand strategy for Coke.
Period. Other than maximizing sales revenue and market
share (Duh). Of course, everyone is too afraid to say
that the Emperor is wearing any clothes, but that's
the real story with Coke and several other major brands
that I analyze in my book (<--subtle plug). As I may
have mentioned here before, Coke is a very successful
brand, but it is not a good brand, commanding the loyalty
and evangelism of its users. Coke's marketing strategy
has always been one of high awareness and sales tactics
that would make stormtroopers blush.

Advertising -- unlike medicine, law -- is a totally
unlicensed profession. Which means anyone can set up
shop and be in business, regardless of education, talent
or ability.

Be careful out there.......


Rob Frankel, "Yes, I really do turn users into
 evangelists for your brand."
Big Time Branding=81 http://www.RobFrankel.com
The Book: http://www.RevengeOfBrandX.com
The Frankel Tapes: Volume One:
  http://www.RobFrankel.com/store.html
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Received on Wed Apr 11 2001 - 11:04:54 CDT