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April 09, 2007

Radio Advertising Riddle: The Chicken or the Egg?

It's an interesting question. One of the most interesting - in radio advertising or otherwise.

Do you give people what's good for them?

Or, do you give them what they want?

And a corollary, can we assume people truly know what's good for them?

This topic was touched on last night's Frontline episode as it relates to news stories from the media's perspective.

But it has equal application to the advertising (and selling) of many, many products.

If advertisers give people only what's "good" for them, a lot of businesses would be... out of business. As Frontline pointed out, news organizations are one of those very businesses. But they aren't the only ones. Why does McDonald's serve such unhealthy food? It's not because Ronnie wants to make America the fattest country in the world. No, all of that makeup is expensive. Not to mention the suits he has to wear.

Clearly it would be bad for the economy if every "bad for you" product were taken off of the market today. But more importantly, it wouldn't work. Why? Because people will get what they want. "Bad for you" products and services exist not because some businessperson created them, but because many people want those products and services badly enough to pay more than it costs to create and deliver them.

People deride advertisements all the time. Judgments are passed. This ad is awful, that ad is cheesy. Silly. Stupid. Annoying. The criticism is nearly always directed at the company behind the ad. Is this well-placed criticism? Do businesses set out to create cheesy ads? Or, are all ads simply a reflection of the needs and wants of a certain set of potential customers?

Direct response advertising provides an insight here that general (i.e. not held accountable) advertising can't come close to: If you hear a direct response radio advertising campaign over a long period of time, you can safely conclude that it's delivering a profit to the business.

That means people are responding to that advertisement. They are buying the product or service advertised. That "cheesy, silly, stupid, annoying" ad... is resonating with people.

Direct response advertisers don't set out to create silly ads. They set out to grow their business profitably. The only way to do that is... to give people what they want. It's a fundamental axiom of any marketing. If you don't meet needs, you don't stay in business.

It must be stated that the charge for advertisers is to do this in an honest, authentic way. You can only give people what they want if you have it. It doesn't take any talent to lie. It does take a talented person to decipher the nuances of human nature, understand the way people think about a particular product or service, and then present the selling proposition in a skillful manner that resonates with the appropriate customers. Authenticity is the greatest influence.

I don't have the answer to the riddle. It would be ideal if people wanted what was good for them. But we live in the (imperfect) real world.

Posted by Brett Astor at 05:35 PM | Permalink