Whatever happened to memorable adverts?

Kim Stoddart, Managing Director of media relations company Blue Rocket Group looks at the challenges involved in communicating through the mass media.

Many people myself included, feel nostalgic thinking about advertisements from the past. I don’t know why but the series of ‘I’m a secret lemonade drinker’ R Whites lemonade ads that ran from the early Seventies, particularly sticks in my mind and it used to be my favourite drink as a teenager. Today’s adverts just don’t seem as memorable. But many media theorists believe this is down to a change in our culture rather than a lack of creative advertisers.

The way people interpret advertising has changed over the years. A mixture of over-exposure to advertising and a rise in investigative journalism has given the public a more cynical attitude towards adverts. This poses a problem for companies wishing to communicate using this medium.

So, what’s the alternative?

Adverts can still be effective; but they work better as part of a larger marketing campaign, which backs up the messages you want to communicate. Getting people to trust the company behind the product is increasingly important. There are many different cost-effective marketing strategies that can be used alongside advertising to help with this.

• Media relations - best described as the next best thing to a word-of-mouth-recommendation, except you are potentially hitting thousands of people, rather than just one or two. This is an effective way of getting journalists to write about you or your products positively. It is an excellent method for adding validity to what you sell and building trust amongst potential customers. People trust the judgement of their favourite publications so a positive review can work wonders. A strategic media campaign can help your business grow in the way you want, by building your reputation and brand amongst the people that matter.
  
  
• Newsletters - can improve relations with existing customers and help maintain a relationship with anyone that has ever used your company’s product or services. New customers can be prompted to visit a website and sign up for a newsletter through associated advertising, or media relations campaigns.
  
  
• A corporate website - for many businesses, especially those targeting other companies, their website is their most important marketing tool. It can put forward the image you want to project and support the key messages of your advertising campaign.

Whatever combination of methods you choose, remember evaluation is crucial. You need to get feedback to find out what is and isn’t working, this will help you improve your future strategy. Producing graphs of the immediate affect adverts and press coverage has on sales will allow you to work out what’s most cost-effective for you. Measuring the affect on your reputation is more difficult, however potential customer surveys and one-to-one interviews can be revealing.

The importance of a strong reputation cannot be underestimated. If you can get a large number of people to improve their opinions of your product then this will result in increased sales and a more stable future.

 

Kim Stoddart is managing director of media relations company, Blue Rocket Group. To find out more, visit www.bluerocketgroup.com alternatively contact info@bluerocketgroup.com or call 01273 779 196

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