We came across this blog article on Brand Republic by Bill Trott titled ‘Advertising Doesn’t Sell Stuff’

I always loved Bill Berbach’s advertising for the VW Beetle.
But I never bought one.
I loved John Webster’s Honey Monster advertising.
But I never ate Sugar Puffs.
I also loved John’s advertising the Guardian.
But I never bought it.
I loved David Abbott’s advertising for The Economist.
But I never read it.
I loved Saatchi’s advertising for The Conservatives.
But I never voted for them.
I loved Trevor Beattie’s ad for Wonderbra.
But I never wore one.
I loved Terry Lovelock’s ads for Heineken.
But I never drank it.
I liked Alex Taylor’s ads for The Army.
But I never joined it.
(More on http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/dtb/archive/2010/03/09/advertising-doesn-t-sell-stuff.aspx)
It sounds as though Bill is arguing that advertising is ineffective, far from it. He is just saying that advertising is only one part of a process that makes one person or organisation buy a particular product or service- on this we think he is totally right. We have all heard the clichés of how need, greed and fear drive all our actions, and certainly there are a lot of people that think advertising is the root of all evil, creating an immediate desire to buy products that are harmful or dangerous to our health. Advertising in itself is not harmful, we live in a world that depends on transactions and those that sell services or products that are genuinely useful have to have a voice in the marketplace and build awareness like any other- whether some products or services are harmful should be the question we ask, not whether we advertise them. . We think Bill is being a bit controversial when he says advertising doesn’t work, of course if you run one ad people aren’t going to immediately drone like rush out to buy your service, but if you recognise advertising is one part of the jigsaw that allows people that have a potential need or desire for a product to be aware of this option and the benefits that it offers, then advertising can give you a huge competitive advantage.

Over the past month Foundry34 have been out and about the North East delivering digital marketing workshops to Social Enterprises. Designed as introductory sessions to the fundamentals of digital marketing these have went very well and apart from absolutely mucking up the pace of the first session (ouch!)we have really enjoyed them. It is intriguing to see the diverse uses of digital marketing throughout different sectors. What was very rewarding was to be able to help out the absolute beginners and technophobes with jumping in and getting started with social media like Twitter as well as going through some structured plans with more experienced organisations , working through how they could lever digital marketing for their particular needs and put digital marketing in the context of their available resources and objectives.

We will be posting some of the tips from the workshop soon so keep checking back…

While the white walls of our new studios may look very cool, we thought we needed some visual inspiration to bring things to life. As a team we spent a day digging out images and designs that make us think, inspire us or make us laugh or maybe all three. It’s great to look through all of the great design and communications and visual imagery out there and find out a bit more about the way that the team thinks and get inspiration.

We’ve included a shot of our inspiration wall above as well as picking out one favourite piece each and our reasons why:

Chris – Crusha Cat TV Ad
“A video rather than a still ad, it shows how getting the basics right can be so much better than flashy high budget advertising. Catchy soundtrack and tongue in cheek humour- pure brand building and awareness  and a million miles away from dull corporate mission statements.”

Andrew – Brent Stirton’s Photojournalism
“Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in your surroundings, and so I like images which remind you how wide, weird and extraordinary the world and its history can be. Brent Stirton’s photojournalism explores other cultures and captures them with strange and amazing perspectives.”

Simon – Jasper Johns Painting
“I have chosen this image because I find the mixture of unusual colours and random shapes hugely inspiring when developing ideas and working on projects.”

Helen – Disappointed Horse
“Disappointed horse: Favourite comedy clip ever has to go to Little Britain, genius.”