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Permalink Reply by Ted L Simon on October 6, 2009 at 3:02am

I saw this the other day on The Onion and fell out of my chair laughing. If one were really to take a step back from our jobs as marketers and brand builders, you have to wonder if all those Noori quotes and comments don't reflect what a lot of people in the world really think (maybe even some of us marketing types every now and then).

But, to answer your questions:
- Will it make me think twice? No, but I do agree with the sentiment. I think we all should be thinking extra hard about how we are spending our marketing dollars these days.
- Do I feel brand building advertising has gotten out of hand/is it a "big mistake?" These inter-relate. I'm not sure what "brand building advertising" really is, or ever was. To my way of thinking, everything we do as marketers to bring a brand into contact with its customers can or should help build the brand, not just the hugely expensive tv comm'ls most often associated with "brand building."

Now, if you were to ask me do I think Pepsi (and Coke, Budweiser, etc., etc.) spend a chunk of their marketing budgets unwisely...probably (we're all human, after all), but I'm not in a position to tell you how big a chunk. Do I think the cost for a 30-sec comm'l on the Super Bowl is astronomically ridiculous -- in dollar terms, yes; in value terms, it all depends (Master Lock sure seemed to see a benefit to its one ad in the SB every year).

Today there are so many options, audiences are so fragmented...it's hard to justify dropping that kind of coin in one place. But, some times that one big coin drop is worth it (see the original "1984" comm'l for the Mac). In the end, it all comes down to your goals, strategies...some times such a move is justified from a business perspective.

Still, I think we all can agree with, or at least give pause to ponder, the main point being driven home by this satirical piece -- when it comes to what's really important in this world, a share point here or there really is not the biggest deal in the world. We're just lucky that this type of issue is important to us as business practitioners...we should be happy that we don't have some of those other more weighty world worries on our shoulders.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Lubelczyk on October 7, 2009 at 11:16am

Ted,

Thanks for your insight. I agree, too often we get caught up in the minutia and forget to look at the big picture. We must all think what is the purpose of our spending.

My take away from this article was, don't just do it because you always have. The main thing we have to do is ask ourselves is "Why?" and the more often we ask that question the more effective our efforts will be.

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