Personal Ads

I recently perused the usual rubbish that comes through my door.

Along with some awaited post, there were a few barely coherent fliers and a small local publication. This publication overtly calls itself an advertising medium and does not offer any real substance beyond spaces for local companies to advertise. Nestled among these advertisements is a personal ads section.

I was struck by its position in the publication and how brazen its position as advertisement became within it. Local businesses advertise their wares in this paper and I wonder if something similar is going on with the local people that take out these personal ads. What exactly are they advertising? Sexual appeal? Sociability? Love? Each of these things seems far more subjective than the type of lawn mower you use or the different supermarket you visit.

At least with these other objects there is a clear definition of what they offer. A better coffee grinder will grind your coffee better. It is not obvious what a better personal ad would look like or what it would sell. Not only do these ads seem to undermine the subjective specificity of relationships, it seems to do so in a manner that is pretty incoherent.

Let's not all become advertisement companies for ourselves.

-The English Student

Marketing Failures

I have been watching too much television lately.

As such, I have been exposed to quite a lot of terrible marketing campaigns. On a basic level there are three types of poor advertisements. If an ad is obscure in its message and relation to the product or service it is hardly effective. In addition to this, an advertisement that is dishonest about the true benefits of their product or service must be counter productive. A final irritating advertisement style is one that attempts to annoy a consumer into buying their product.

There is one famous advertisement that employs this last method. It is so loud and brash that it would be impossible to ignore. It revels in how cheap the presentation is and the obnoxious presenter is encouraged to irk the listening in every possible way. Is this truly an effective marketing method? Whenever I see these advertisements I take a silent vow to never give them money and thus punish them for their negative marketing techniques. It cannot be denied that the brand is well known on the back of these ads, just not well respected.

All of this was put into stark contrast when I visited a company that has one of the best marketing departments in the world. They use clever and unique ploys. They do not try to bully the consumer or even try to make outlandish claims about their products. Instead, they generally use humour and guile to convince people that they are deserving of our money and this is the benefit of positive marketing campaigns.

Even if we are being tricked into giving up our money, at least we feel good about it.

-The English Student