Comments on: On Advertising Cleverness, Measurable Results and the Burger King http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/2009/06/23/on-advertising-cleverness-measurable-results-and-the-burger-king/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:28:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John Sherman Hoyt http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/2009/06/23/on-advertising-cleverness-measurable-results-and-the-burger-king/comment-page-1/#comment-236140 John Sherman Hoyt Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:30:45 +0000 http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/?p=7747#comment-236140 Indeed! Indeed!

]]> By: Joshua http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/2009/06/23/on-advertising-cleverness-measurable-results-and-the-burger-king/comment-page-1/#comment-236136 Joshua Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:24:19 +0000 http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/?p=7747#comment-236136 Which brings about the bigger point I'm trying (poorly) to make: advertising won't fix your problems. If companies would take all the millions they pour into advertising and invest it in making their existing products/services better, they wouldn't need gimmicks (especially unsuccessful gimmicks that only target 15-30 year old men.) So when I say, "if your agency of record is making you less profit than you had before hiring them, fire them" I mean that money can be better spent elsewhere, in ways that actually positively impact the bottomline. Which brings about the bigger point I’m trying (poorly) to make: advertising won’t fix your problems. If companies would take all the millions they pour into advertising and invest it in making their existing products/services better, they wouldn’t need gimmicks (especially unsuccessful gimmicks that only target 15-30 year old men.)

So when I say, “if your agency of record is making you less profit than you had before hiring them, fire them” I mean that money can be better spent elsewhere, in ways that actually positively impact the bottomline.

]]> By: John Sherman Hoyt http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/2009/06/23/on-advertising-cleverness-measurable-results-and-the-burger-king/comment-page-1/#comment-236135 John Sherman Hoyt Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:17:31 +0000 http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/?p=7747#comment-236135 I have issues about firing your ad agency if your profits are falling. Burger Kings ads I think are brilliant and memorable. However, as soon as you walk into their restaurant that illusion is shattered. They are regularly filthy, have poor customer service, and the food quite frankly does not look as good as their competitors. To blame the ad agencies for a low quality product is unfair. No ad agency is going to save a poor product at the end of the day. They can try all they want, but the best advertisement at the end of the day for better or worse is their product right in front of me. I have issues about firing your ad agency if your profits are falling.

Burger Kings ads I think are brilliant and memorable. However, as soon as you walk into their restaurant that illusion is shattered. They are regularly filthy, have poor customer service, and the food quite frankly does not look as good as their competitors.

To blame the ad agencies for a low quality product is unfair. No ad agency is going to save a poor product at the end of the day. They can try all they want, but the best advertisement at the end of the day for better or worse is their product right in front of me.

]]> By: Cameron http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/2009/06/23/on-advertising-cleverness-measurable-results-and-the-burger-king/comment-page-1/#comment-236132 Cameron Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:33:21 +0000 http://joshuablankenship.com/blog/?p=7747#comment-236132 This got me curious. Obviously their ad campaign was too narrow for their market, but I wonder what else is at play here. There's more to a gigantic company like Burger King than their ads. In 2002 (a year before CP+B was hired), BK market share fell from 18.5% ('01) to 15.6%. They were sold that year and hired a new CEO, and it's this new BK that hired CP+B. All I'm saying is that the problem might be bigger than just what ad agency they are using – an otherwise healthy company wouldn't languish at the same market share for 7 years just because of some quirky ads. I'm not defending CP+B, mind you. After all, these are the people responsible for that Seinfeld/Gates Microsoft ad. This got me curious. Obviously their ad campaign was too narrow for their market, but I wonder what else is at play here.

There’s more to a gigantic company like Burger King than their ads. In 2002 (a year before CP+B was hired), BK market share fell from 18.5% (’01) to 15.6%. They were sold that year and hired a new CEO, and it’s this new BK that hired CP+B.

All I’m saying is that the problem might be bigger than just what ad agency they are using – an otherwise healthy company wouldn’t languish at the same market share for 7 years just because of some quirky ads.

I’m not defending CP+B, mind you. After all, these are the people responsible for that Seinfeld/Gates Microsoft ad.

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