Perception of Advertising Methods

[KristineS]

I'm not sure I can ask this question properly, but it's something that I find interesting. I think there are different perceptions of different forms of advertising and those perceptions reflect on the businesses that use that advertising. For example, four color ads in a magazine are generally considered high end. A self printed flyer tacked to a telephone pole is considered low end. If I saw a Mercedes advertised in a glossy print ad in a magazine, I'd think it was a high end car and Mercedes Benz was a solid company. If I saw the same ad printed on a cheap inkjet printer and tacked to a telephone pole, I wouldn't have the same reaction.

Do you think the perception of the method of advertising has an effect on how the message itself is perceived?

[Ad-Vice_Man]

Absolutely...

I can't tell you how many business owners I've run into that spends hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars on their media buy and run a HORRIFIC Looking/sounding add, because they've gotten the production for free or cheap.

Successfull Advertising = 1)Say the right thing 2) to the right people 3) enough times for them to take action.

Saying the right thing is the 1st and most important part. I'd argue that it's responsible for at least 50% of the effectiveness of the campaign. Wouldn't it make sense to invest at least 10-15% of your resources into making it the best it can possibly be? A great ad run less often can produce better results than a poor ad run very often... and creative/production is ultimately less expensive than the media.

[vangogh]

I'll give an absolutely too and I think this extends beyond advertising into everything you do.

Sticking with advertising for a moment think about a simple phone book ad. The full or half page ad always leaves a different impression on me than a simple phone number listed. We can take your 4 color print ad example further and say that the magazine it's in also goes toward what you think of the product.

Going beyond the ad I was just replying to your thread about quality websites. If your website appears amateur that's the impression your sending about your business.

To me this all ties into brand. Everything you do or say affects your brand. If you want to be seen as high quality it's about much more than saying your products or services are high quality. Everything you do has to be high quality from the decor in your waiting room to your choice of stationary.

[Dan Furman]

Just hired a lawn guy to mow for me (oh what a great relief this is ). When he came to see my lawn, he handed me a brochure and business card - homemade, inkjet printed, etc. They looked ok, but my reaction was definitely negative. In my mind, he'd have done better not having the brochure at all.

He got hired anyway because he was nice enough and professional enough to overcome that, and his equipment definitely said "success". That's why it puzzled me so - he showed up in a 50k truck with a beautiful trailer, has nice equipment, but skimped on the $400 nice brochures would have cost... amazing.

Had he not been there in person, I would have felt his brochures were for some fly by night, part-time outfit, and I never would have contacted him (I contacted him initially because he does my neighbor's lawn. But I'm saying aside from that, on the strength of the brochure alone, he'd have never registered in my mind.)

[Business Attorney]

I agree with everyone else so far. "The medium is the message," as Marshall McLuhan said.

Sometimes you may want to downgrade the medium to reinforce a particular message. Craig's List, for example, is a fine place for a college student to find a used sectional sofa, as my son recently did. As a seller, you may want to convey a message that the item is a great bargain. On the other hand, I certainly would not feel comfortable relying on a classified ad on Craig's List to find an orthodontist for my 13 year old son.

[vangogh]

Sometimes you may want to downgrade the medium to reinforce a particular message

That's a great point. It's not automatically that you need to go with the highest quality medium, but rather you need to match your message with the right medium. Mercedes shouldn't be advertising with a black and white photocopy. On the other hand it would be appropriate for you to do so as the 4th generation owner of that very same Mercedes.

[Steve B]

I agree too. I just had a lady join our Pet Services Network (see my thread on focused networking groups) and all she has is a B&W brochure - with lots of white space and poorly "printed". I told her we can't help promote her business (we do a lot of cross-promoting) until she gets it professionaly done, glossy and in color. It probably sounded harsh - although I said it very nicely, but I'm not going to put her brochures in with the others because it will reflect poorly on the group.

[orion_joel]

I agree with everyone so far, professionalism is the absolute key. While i would most probably do my own printing of fryers and such at home, i would be doing it on a $3,000 colour laser printer, that will give very similar quality to a colour laser copier at the local print store.

I think even going beyond the the two keys of what and how you market something it also comes down to who you are marketing to.

To compare the lawn service point that Dan mentioned. There is really two (or even many other) levels of marketing that could be used, in this case the operator seemed to be a good high quality operation and should have had brochures that matched this image. It would seem that he was trying to offer a service that appear to be a little more then what some other's offered and you probably pay a little more for that. Where as you would also another level of business in the lawn services industry that would not have as expensive equipment, their marketing may just be an ad in the newspaper and they may just quote over the phone.

The difference in marketing method's could be seen as targeting two completely different markets, there would be some cross over. However there would be a very different perception of the two different businesses and the way they market.

[cbscreative]

Dan's point about the lawn service just reminded me of how the shakey flyer could have easily cost business. Saving on design and printing at the cost of getting business is never a bargain.

SteveB brought up an excellent point that many business owners don't often consider. If you want to cross promote, you will lose good opportunities. They may not (and probably won't) tell you the reason like Steve did, but will reject your offer just the same.

One thing I have noted as a major contributing factor to business failures is when the owners think like bargain hunting consumers rather than like business people. There is a reason most people are not in business for themselves, and why so many who try fail. To succeed, one must trash their consumer mentality, but yet understand what motivates people to buy.

[KristineS]

Vangogh wrote a great piece on his blog recently about The ROI Mindset. I think he made some really good points. You have to look at things from the mindset of what your potential return will be, not what you're spending.

It's like the house I just bought. If I looked at all the money going out right now, I'd pass out. Instead I choose to look at it all as an investment and one that will benefit me for a long time to come. I may be spending quite a lot of money, but my potential return is very high.