I begin today with a marketing technique that gives marketers a bad name, the fake bill. I remember years ago getting phony phone book bills when I worked for my parents. Because then they advertised heavily in the publications, it would’ve been easy to pay a fake bill.
Recently I received this bill for “Business Week.” I don’t subscribe to that, but I do get “Bloomberg Businessweek.” How easy it would’ve been to sign a check and send this out. This dirty marketing trick really irritates me! If you look closely you will see the words “Not a bill.” Then don’t make it look like one!
The reverse side makes it more apparent that this truly isn’t a bill, but who really reads their bills anyway? You’ll never catch Fletcher Freelance sending out anything like this on the behalf of myself or any of my clients. I’m all for creativity, but against outright deception.
This ad for Geico didn’t really strike me as extraordinary. In fact I flipped right past it without a second glance. But my three-year-old noticed it (upside down) from across the table. Now, I keep my little one as sheltered as possible, mind you. I keep the television off all day. Sure he might catch an occasional commercial while I’m watching football on Sunday, but that’s really about it. But get this, he says, “Mom, that was Geico. They save you money on car insurance so you can get a nicer car.” Really? Wow, kudos Geico – if my overprotected three-year-old got that, your marketing team must be doing a good job!
Here is an ad that did catch my eye. I think it was primarily the simplicity and use of a bold color. The main headline for this Discover ad is, “#1 cash rewards program.” But there are only a couple other lines of content in this ad. And the call to action, “It pays to switch. It pays to Discover.” is followed by both the phone number and the website.
As always, if you have a marketing piece you’d like reviewed please mail it to me, terra@fletcherfreelance.com. And share your thoughts on these ads in the comments below.
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