People in advertising say different things regarding the purpose of advertising and I guess that what they say is not even that important as long as what they do makes their clients happy.
Still, I recently heard an idea coming from an advertising executive of a global communications agency according to which advertising is persuasion and not selling. For those of you who didn't really catch the last few words, the guy said that advertising is not selling.
Of course, I am no one yet in the world of advertising, but that doesn't mean I cannot question such a fundamental concept. Surely, advertising is persuasion. But what do you persuade people to do through advertising? You persuade them to like and eventually buy your product. I personally believe that persuasion, along with the informative aspect of advertising, is just a part of the main and utmost important purpose of advertising: to sell products, services, ideas and so on.
However, the ad exec argues that persuasion is the ultimate purpose of advertising and that advertising is not about selling. I would like to highlight the fact that I do not reject the idea that advertising is persuasion. I do, nonetheless, reject the idea that advertising is not selling. Picture this: you see a TV commercial for product Whatever. The ad tells you how great product Whatever is for you and you believe it. The ad therefore persuades you to believe that the product is great. This means that the purpose of advertising has already been achieved. But you're still sitting on that sofa and Whatever's sales don't grow just because you liked the ad or because it persuaded you to have a positive attitude towards the product. In fact, the ad you just watched is probably part of a several million-pound campaign - paid for, of course, by the advertiser. Paying millions of pounds for someone sitting on a sofa to like the product is no good unless people stand up and go and buy that product.
Therefore, I believe that while persuasion should be acknowledged as a major purpose of advertising, dismissing the fact that advertising is about selling may be a brutal understatement. Not to mention a much too romantic approach to advertising. Alastair Crompton put it better: 'Realize that your function [as an agency] is to get people to spend, and help your client to earn his living and keep his factories busy and his employees rich.'
Who do you agree with - Mr No One Yet or Mr Advertising Executive?
Hi Rares,
ReplyDeleteI think that the guy meant that the advertising is not selling in itself. When you advertise it is not equivalent to the act of selling. As you said the potential customer must get up and buy something in order for the campaign to be successful. The point is the definition what advertising really is:)
Cheers and hope to see you again in Cov,
Damian
Aaa... there is one thing I forgot. Is the advertisement guy paid for making the add or he is paid for the results of the add?
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Damian
Hello mate,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the awesome comments. If you ask me, I think selling is a process comprising different stages (attention, interest, desire, action and all that), which is the reason why I support the idea that advertising is selling - and yes, equivalent to the act of selling. You're right though, you don't sell advertising, but you do sell products through advertising.
Is the guy paid for making the ad or is he paid for the results of the ad? That is an interesting question. I imagine his involvement in the actual production is rather limited since he's an account executive, but I'd say he is paid to ensure that the ad campaign delivers.
Hope you're enjoying Vienna you lucky lad.
Take care.
Yes the question of for what he makes a living is like with the lawyer who gets money from the process of defending his client. I am also paid for my job as a computer scientist every month whathever the results are, though I could be fired if there are no results at all.
ReplyDeleteI also had an interesting observation here in Vienna. I don't watch television here neither I read a lot of newspapers. I am very busy at work having no time for admiring the huge wall papers:) So when I go to the shop how it happens that I choose a certain product? Possibly there are many factors like: what is actually on the shelf, time i want to spend in the shop and the price. But maybe there is sth different? What is the role of advertisement in this situation?
Off course I am enjoing Vienna:) And I am a lucky lad in deed:D