WINTER 1997
Let's start with the paper's silly Ad Track feature. It contributes to a distorted view of what constitutes good advertising.
Ad Track is a survey that measures how much consumers "like" a particular TV ad and how "effective" they think it is.
How absurd! For one thing, how much consumers like an ad is, in itself, irrelevant. Viewers hated Mr. Whipple, but he sold a lot of toilet paper. They loved the Joe Isuzu ads, but Joe didn't sell Isuzus!
Beyond that, how can consumers determine how effective an ad is??? ONLY WITH THEIR DOLLARS!!! Ad Track doesn't have a clue. But do consumers buy the product? Do they cume your station? Only then is an ad effective!
Many ad people dislike this bottom line approach...they'd rather be "creative." The current darling of the creative crowd is xx
Nissan's "Toys" campaign -- the one where Barbie and G.I. Joe cruise the bedroom in a toy 300ZX. Sure, it is a fun ad. But Nissan's sales are down. And it discontinued the 300ZX last year! (Why advertise a product that doesn't exist?)
This isn't the first time Nissan has opted for the "art" of advertising. The first ads for its upscale Infiniti brand -- showing only rocks and trees -- fell flat. In contrast, Toyota actually showed us its Lexus (what a concept!), which became and remains dominant in the Japanese luxury car segment.
Ad Track is USA TODAY's weekly evaluation of advertising. But the paper really goes "over the top" at this time of the year...
The Super Bowl is the ultimate orgy of high-profile commercials. Sponsors pay a million plus for 30-second spots...some more entertaining than the game itself.
Naturally, that calls for special coverage by USA TODAY, when it trots out its AD METER...
Ad Meter assembles over 100 volunteers in two cities on Super Sunday. As they watch the game, each uses a hand-held meter to register how much they like or dislike each ad. A computer averages their scores, and USA TODAY reports the results on Monday.
Aside from poor research design -- anyone who volunteers for this session is far from the typical consumer -- the biggest problem with Ad Meter is that it, like Ad Track, focuses on commercials' likability...
For the past three years, Pepsi's humorous spots have won this "Super Bowl of Advertising." This year, one of its spots (featuring dancing bears) ranked highest.
Well, Pepsi may be winning this contest, but it is not winning the "cola wars"!
But why worry about selling product? USA TODAY has bigger problems with Super Bowl advertising. On Tuesday, they broke the "disturbing" news...
"Super Bowl ads were nothing to laugh about," the headline stated. The article goes on to decry the fact that this year's ads just weren't that funny!
"Tickling the football fan's funny bone has emerged as the crucial ingredient for successful Super Bowl advertising," writes USA TODAY's Bruce Horowitz. "The Big Game is, after all, one big party -- where laughs are as vital as the vittles."
Then the paper took the final step into absurdity. It asked comedians to critique the Super Bowl ads and make suggestions on how to do better next year!
Excuse me, but since when have comedians become marketing experts??? Only in the whacked-out world of USA TODAY's advertising coverage.
USA TODAY's emphasis on humor as an end in itself is way out of line when it comes to advertising. Sure, humor is one way of grabbing viewers' attention. But once you've gotten their attention, you'd better do more than merely make them laugh.
The overemphasis on getting Super Bowl laughs at all costs is getting some advertisers in trouble. A Holiday Inn commercial that aired during the game featured a "supermodel-like transsexual surprising former classmates at a class reunion."
I don't know if it netted Holiday Inn more customers. (Does it make you want to stay there?) But it did generate complaints from franchisees, guests and the American Conservative Union.
Well, at least the Ad Meter folks liked it.
USA TODAY quotes adman Danny Deutsch as saying: "The Super Bowl has become an advertising circus, an empty beauty pageant."
Right! Think the paper might have something to do with that?
It means don't fall into the same trap! When evaluating, designing and buying TV advertising, don't fall for funny alone. Instead, get answers to these questions:
How do you get the answers to these questions? Focus groups or large group tests with your target listeners are two good ways.
But please, do yourself a favor. Don't ask respondents how much they "like" prospective TV spots or how "effective" they are.
Leave that to USA TODAY.