My colleague, Graham Page, passed me a copy of USA Today’s January 21st edition and suggested I might want to read Michael Wolff’s article, “Don’t write print ads off just yet.” In the article, Wolff decries the state of the print advertising art and seeks to pitch the medium’s strengths versus the allure of TV and digital. Unfortunately, I don’t think that in the process Wolff does print advertising or himself any favors.
A while back, I read this interesting article in The Huffington Post, by Matt Browne. Titled, “Pro-Logo: Can Global Brands Become a Force for Good?” it suggests that global brands are more accountable now than they once were, and possess the potential to change the world for the better.
Sometimes when I am faced with a problem, I can only see it from one viewpoint. The result is that I get stuck and can’t figure out how to solve the problem.
The reference to an “advertising message” makes me wince. The word “message” seems to imply that the advertising is designed to convey specific information or an argument. But not all advertising is intended to persuade people by arguing the merits of a brand. And even when it does, I think we overestimate the degree to which people actually comprehend what is shown and said in advertising.
A while back, I talked to Chris Stutzman, VP, Principal Analyst of the CMO Practice for Marketers and Agencies at Forrester. The company had conducted a survey about how engagement with brands might be changing, and Chris wanted to gather opinions on what the findings meant for the future of brands.
