Content Marketing Today

Aussie Expert Asks: Is There Such a Thing as Bad Advertising?

In the age of the Internet, the answer is a resounding, Yes!

Our Australian content marketing colleague, Bret Gilbertson, is a great one for shattering marketing myths.  Everything that he does on behalf of clients is aimed at generating measurable results.  The vast majority of his work is online, either with websites, blogs or eNewsletters.

In a recent post he shares a frighteningly amusing and instructive video from an Australian TV show that is dedicated to, believe it or not, advertising.  In a June 2008 broadcast, the host, Will Anderson, got the panel to talk about advertising that backfired.  He managed to elicit a quote from the managing director of an Australian subsidiary of global giant Y&R:

All advertising works. It’s just a matter of how much.

Brett notes that advertising is the biggest marketing expense for many companies for both good advertising and bad.  He makes an interesting, indirect prediction, “Maybe Russell Howcroft’s statement that all advertising works is true in an advertising agency sort of way… but maybe not for long.”

Be sure to check out this video excerpt from the Aussie advertising show.  You’ll be amused and simultaneously appalled.

Internet measurement tools might eventually eliminate bad advertising

We’ve all observed a lot of really bad advertising that is obviously a self-indulgent set of exercises by ‘creative’ teams who are completely clueless about the need to generate measurable results.

That kind of self-indulgence may well disappear because as Brett emphasizes:

Marketing on the Internet has introduced many businesses to the concept that you can draw a direct line from good marketing to increased sales. It has introduced an unprecedented standard of tools, data and accountability.

Be sure to give Brett’s ConversionRate.com.au blog a spot on your regular reading list. He is brilliant at what he does–and brilliant at puncturing holes in marketing pretensions.