Social Media Powers Better Advertising

One of my issues with advertising has always been that, as a consumer (not an ad expert), I feel like so much advertising misses the mark. It's not personal. It's not relevant. It's often flashy or gimmicky or shocking for the sake of it, but rarely does it help me better understand a brand or build a relationship with it. My good friend and marketing smart guy posted recently about advertising that sucks, and I posted about an ad from the ASPCA that I think totally misses the mark.

I watch the Super Bowl commercials each year like everyone else, but have to be honest that I rarely remember the brands themselves that were part of the remarkable spots. And as much as I love the Budweiser Clydesdales, I'm still not going to buy their beer.

To me, advertising should be about creating awareness for a company, product, service or idea in a way that really connects with people. In human terms. And demonstrates how the brand embodies those ideas. People develop brand loyalty because it does something for them in a way nothing else can, or because they feel a personal affinity for the company/product/service for a particular reason.

And I don't find any of those things in a jingle, a stunt, sophmoric humor, or flashy weird graphics that are meant to be bizarre or avant garde but have no material connection to the brand itself. And I see lots and lots of ads that do so many of those things. The ads themselves may be interesting or "remarkable" but that doesn't translate to the brand. Am I missing something?

And I know we use Dell as an example a lot, but that's really because they're doing so many things right, like their ReGeneration project. They've asked a question: What does green mean to you? And as part of their project, they launched a contest on Facebook where they asked folks to submit artwork that spoke to their feelings about being green. I'm actually a bit behind here - the campaign is several months old now - but it has sticking power in my head because of how open Dell was to letting the community determine the direction for their project.

The cool part to me is that Dell did something that's one of the pillars of social media in my mind: They let their community create their advertising for them. They took some of the artwork and created ads around them. No fancy agencies, no "crafted messages", no gimmicks or in-your-face corporate speak. A sample is below.

Dell realized that their customers could and do build up their brand as well or better than they can. Jeremiah Owyang has a good breakdown of the campaign here.



So are you leveraging what your customers and fans are doing on behalf of your brand? How do you think companies can better embrace the brand assets that their customers might be creating for them? Do you think advertising is as misguided as I do, and if so, why hasn't it changed? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

When Advertising Goes Bad. Or Stupid.

Have you ever been to Sonic Drive In? They have lots of yummy treats on the menu - great burgers, shakes, malts, slushees, and cheesy tater tots. mmmm.

I've seen them in the south near where I have family - Atlanta, Hot Springs, Memphis. But I've never seen one in Chicago.

Nevertheless, they advertise like crazy in my market. TV, radio, the whole bit. And finally, after the requisite number of impressions or an overwhelming interest in chili fries, I went to their website to have a look and see just how far I'd have to go to find one. After all, if they're advertising in my area, they must have one nearby, right? It's "America's Drive In"

Nope. In fact, according to their Sonic Locator, the nearest one to me is in Peoria, which is over 185 miles away. Are they kidding? It might be America's Drive In, but it ain't Chicago's.

I'm not sure the point here. As a potential customer, the ads leave me feeling slighted and a bit taunted. Like ha ha, no Sonic for you. And I can't help but wondering how much money they're wasting. Sure, I know they buy blocks on networks that include their entire distribution area. But this smacks of pure advertising laziness. I honestly can live with the fact that their business model must not include Chicago. But to advertise here anyway?

So I'm actually motivated to go back to the website and comment to someone about their flirtation with us Sonic-hungry folks in Chicago. And I've looked all over the site. Their contact us page has a phone number, which no one answered save for some automated recordings about franchise ownership. No email. No contact form. These days, I can't possibly understand why someone wouldn't make it easy for the outside world to get in touch with them through their website. Yikes!

So, friends at Sonic. While I still feel like a chocolate malt or a raspberry slushie delivered to me by a carhop is a thing of beauty, I'm not driving to Peoria. And when and if you decide to be nearer to me, I'll be thinking twice about whether to bother then, either. I may just try my hand at cheesy tater tots from my own oven. So there.