Have you ever been walking around, seen an advertisement or marketing piece, and thought, "Wow, what the heck were they thinking?"
Unfortunately this kind of thing happens to me all the time.
And sometimes, the advertising is SO bad that it becomes instructive to share the experience with you — as a model of how NOT to create your marketing campaigns.
This is the purpose of the Bad Advertising series. Let’s pick up where we left off.
If you remember, I was at my local upscale mall a few weeks ago when I was assaulted from all sides by the advertising of a company called Ziba.
(Read Parts I and II for the full story)
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…
I walked into the men’s restroom to wash my hands, when I was struck in rapid succession by these, stuck above the mirrors:
These banner style ads were plastered on the wall directly above all the mirrors in the men’s bathroom. Let me say that again… in the MEN’S BATHROOM!
Here’s another look:
Okay, honestly, this is not my market, and I haven’t done any research on the hair removal industry, but more than one guy gave the banners a quizzical look and shook his head.
In general, I’m pretty sure that the majority of the market falls on the female side.
Yes, there may be exceptions, like the guy who really, really takes care of himself. But once again, I’m willing to bet that the majority of the business in the hair removal industry comes from women.
Which is where the ads should be concentrated.So remember, Lesson #1 was – Who is your prospect and how can your product or service benefit her?
And Lesson #2 was – Does your ad create or intensify your prospect’s desire for the type of product you’re selling by presenting the benefits it will bring to his or her life?
Lesson #3 is – A message that tries to tailor itself to anyone and everyone falls on deaf ears.
It was mind boggling to see how off kilter the marketing was.
This was just another example of knowing your prospect. Or actually… of NOT knowing your prospect.
And just these banners alone must have been massively expensive to produce, costing tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Because they were everywhere around the mall, not just in the bathrooms.
Just as I was shaking my head in disbelief at these ads, I turned around to see this:
Dozens of copies of an entire MAGAZINE dedicated to Ziba…
… also in the men’s bathroom!
As you can see, the racks are full.
I think I was the only guy who picked up a copy, just for the sake of this case study.
And boy did they spend a bucket of ducats on the design and quality of this publication. Which they so wisely stuck in the men’s bathroom.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
At this point, out of sheer marketer’s curiosity, I had to take a look at this store for myself. I wanted to see the results of this marketing campaign.
After walking around for 5 minutes and looking in vain at all the different advertisements for simple directions, (Call to Action, hint-hint…) I finally found the store….
And as I approached the store…
I’ll tell you what I saw in Part IV, and the final part in this case study, next time!
To your success,
-Mark