I used to like Teslas, I nearly bought one.
Not any more.
Obviously it’s still a great product, but it’s an Elon Musk company.
And his purchase of Twitter, and subsequent flooding of my feed with his thoughts has put me off him.
I choose not to give my money to a multi billionaire who whines everyday about how unfair the world is.
I want best product for the least amount of money, but who I buy it from counts too.
If I like the company I’ll give the benefit of the doubt, if I don’t, I’ll swerve them.
I suspect I’m not alone.
But most creative work is judged as if it’s being consumed by a cyborg, only logic and facts, as if 1% more of this or 3% less of that will win the day.
Rarely factoring in what people may think of the company.
I guess it gets you talking about brand advertising and that’s indulgent and squishy isn’t it?
Not like hard sell – that makes the money, doesn’t it?
Paul Feldwick gives a different view in his excellent book ‘Why Does The Peddlar Sing?’.
And unlike most books written by people about themselves…
…it’s unvarnished.
It focuses on the famous Barclaycard campaign; from the first pitch to the last ad.
If you’d have asked him why the campaign was successful back then, he’d have pointed to the key messages, like the free travel insurance.
Now, he he has a different view ‘Rowan Atkinson. People liked him and that rubbed off on Barclaycard.’
And the messaging underpinning the ads? ‘Well, an ad has to have a message, otherwise it just feels a bit weird?’
I really enjoyed chatting with Paul, hope you enjoy it too.
P.s. The Peddlar sings to attract and enchant people, it increases sales.
CDP’S DUDLEY MOORE CAMPAIGN.
CDP’S ALAN WHICKER CAMPAIGN.
BMP’S ROWAN ATKINSON CAMPAIGN.
THE BOOK.
THE ‘LAST GOOD AD SEEN’:
THE HELLMANN’S ADS REFERENCED.
THE JOHN WEBSTER & PAUL.
Good to see this. And really appreciate Paul’s regular reminders of how good advertising works. (Anatomy of Humbug is first class too)
If only the agencies responsible for the baleful work that fills my screens would read it too.
Particularly liked ‘Well, an ad has to have a message, otherwise it just feels a bit weird?’
There is a new school of agencies and clients so gripped by the terror of being accused of non-inclusion that all they do is worry about casting. Many forget altogether to have an idea – as if it’s superfluous…
I resonated with the point in the article of “I want best product for the least amount of money, but who I buy it from counts too” – where there’s many items we could buy online, but prefer to support local businesses even though these items cost a little more. In my real estate business I find that relationships make a HUGE difference on what vendor someone selects – where if someone knows, likes, and trust you, the customer doesn’t usaully minder premium price over the “lowest cost provider” because they are buying into their confidence in you.
Nice article!