Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Comment, Corporate Evil, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Fake Attitude, Marketing Fail
First it was advertising award entries.
Then it was Linkedin descriptions.
Now we are entering a new dawn … the dawn of the Kickstarter write up.
What am I talking about?
The age of ‘reality fiction’.
You know what I mean … where things people write are exaggerated to the edge of reality.
From the print ad that ‘changed how society looked at the World forever’.
To the ‘account executive’ who claims to have run the biggest, most profitable, most creative account in the agencies history. [But is still an AE]
To the watch – WATCH!!! – that claims it’s a rebel, despite the fact it is exactly like every other watch ever bloody made.
Seriously, some of this stuff is more fantastical than Harry Potter, which begs the question whether the role of marketing – whether it’s your work, your product or yourself – is now a help or a hindrance to achieving ambitions and goals?
It is for this reason that the brands I like – and I trust – are always aware of the difference between truth and marketing truth.
If I was in charge of ad awards, Linkedin and Kickstarter, I’d be encouraging the people who use their services to take note of that fact or they may find themselves without a business in the blink of an eye.
30 Comments so far
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I agree with you Robert. Kickstarter is terrible for overselling hardsell. Haven’t they heard of the boy who cried wolf?
Comment by George July 21, 2016 @ 6:27 amDon’t blame kickstarter, planners started it.
Comment by DH July 21, 2016 @ 7:01 amActually creative directors started it, have you never watched Mad Men?
Comment by Bazza July 21, 2016 @ 7:09 amthe only reason youre protecting planners is because you get the thick fucks to write all your fucking presentations.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2016 @ 7:38 amBut I will say that now the world is connected, it makes even less sense to big yourself up because you’ll be found out.
Comment by DH July 21, 2016 @ 7:02 amRob has managed it. At least with Dan Wieden.
Comment by Bazza July 21, 2016 @ 7:07 amDan doesn’t count. He’s too old to give a shit.
Comment by DH July 21, 2016 @ 7:17 amhes had 5 years to realise his fucking mistake and hes done nothing about it so he deserves all he fucking gets.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2016 @ 7:36 ami fucking hate kickstarter. and anyone who flogs their shit on it. and anyone who buys shit from it. they think theyre cutting fucking edge but theyre just a bunch of fuckheads who live on their own with only their fucking cat for company and they hate them more than cats hate everyfuckingthing as well.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2016 @ 7:34 amTell me how you really feel.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2016 @ 8:24 amI agree with you but I find it interesting you are ridiculing Kickstarter when I would bet you are their #1 customer.
Comment by Pete July 21, 2016 @ 7:56 amYou know what Pete, you’re right … I have bought a lot of stuff on Kickstarter, but given I’ve either been underwhelmed by the final product or frustrated by paying but still not getting the goods, I won’t be doing it again. Or – to be more honest – I’ll be trying to remind myself to not be doing it again.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2016 @ 8:36 amyou not buying tat is like trump not buying wives. fucking impossible.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2016 @ 11:55 pmIMHO, the watches are quite nice and really rather good value for money. And what’s wrong with the copy? It’s about as exaggerated as most of the crap you see brands using to sell their product. Or am I missing the point of your rant?
Comment by Ambrish Bandalkul July 21, 2016 @ 9:24 amhey ambrish, want to buy a glass of water from me. only the fucking baddest of bad asses have it. yours for $100
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2016 @ 11:57 amI agree Ambrish … contrived, cliched rubbish. Which is why a lot of advertising alienates rather than attracts.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2016 @ 1:45 pmCorrect me if I’m wrong but didn’t W+K resurrect the art of inflated copy through the Isaiah Mustafa Old Spice campaign?..
Comment by TajdarOC July 21, 2016 @ 1:41 pmExcept one is tongue in cheek and the other is trying to be absolutely serious. Kind of a major difference there.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2016 @ 1:44 pmTrouble is, you guys opened the floodgates without there being any guidelines to what is and isn’t acceptable… and in a world where Trump can become a US president, that’s playing with fire…
The world was fine with descriptive, unimaginative copy before you guys came and mucked it all up for errrybody. Hell, given enough time, I can probably link and credit W+K’s radical ideology to the rise of superfluous celebutants like the Kardashians, Amy Childs and half the conspiracy theorists churning out YouTube videos by the hour!
Comment by TajdarOC July 21, 2016 @ 3:52 pmSo you’re blaming Wieden that their advertising didn’t come with a set of brand guidelines? You live on a very interesting planet TadjarOC.
Comment by George July 21, 2016 @ 11:29 pm@George, it gets very boring on the regular one, plus people down there aren’t that good at ‘sensing the tone’…. case in point.
Comment by TajdarOC July 21, 2016 @ 11:48 pmoi campbell, you have a troll. its been fucking ages since youve had one. he/she/it isn’t a very good one but beggars cant be fucking choosers can they.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2016 @ 11:54 pmI think Tajdaroc is joking but if not, maybe he could offer Dan Wieden some tips on how to write great ads.
Comment by Pete July 22, 2016 @ 12:37 amThat logic makes tajdar a brexit supporter.
Comment by DH July 22, 2016 @ 1:47 am“The hour hand is shaped like a large arrow, while the minute hand is straight. You’ll never mix them up and you’ll instantly know exactly what time it is.”
Because mixing up the hands on your watch is actually a problem? For whom?
Comment by LuoAnLai July 21, 2016 @ 2:59 pm“Reviewed by Top Gear”. Now there’s a testimonial for a watch.
Comment by Marcus July 21, 2016 @ 4:51 pmHello Marcus. It has been a while. I hope all is very well with you.
Comment by George July 21, 2016 @ 11:29 pmLike old times.
Comment by DH July 22, 2016 @ 1:45 amHello George. All is well with me. I hope all is well with you and yours.
Comment by Marcus July 22, 2016 @ 2:52 pm[…] know, I’ve written about them before … but I came across something recently that really takes the overhyped […]
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