Any advertising is good?

[Don]

One of the things that always puzzled me is that when talking about advertising, it seems like most people believe advertising is some kind of magic where if you put in X dollars in advertising, it always returns at least X+1 dollars in revenue. I usually see this in the context of gaming, but obviously this isn't just limited to gaming. Of course by that logic someone should buy up all the ads on Superbowl since if buying one ads is a good idea, buying all of them is obviously even better!

Is the concept of diminishing returns really that hard to understand for the average guy? Don't people realize that advertising campaigns can fail? I know a bunch of dot coms during the bubble bought Superbowl ads and that sure didn't help them very much. Granted since you cannot make people answer a survey like 'did you buy this burger because you saw this ad' so there's always going to be uncertainty so people can guess wrong, but there still has to be a point where you can clearly tell if the advertising succeeded or failed.

[Flip]

Ive always thought it would be interesting for a known company like coca-cola to say F it and pull all advertising just to see what would happen. My guess is that the drop in sales would be far less than the money they pour into marketing, but maybe not. I have never worked in a marketing department, but i can only assume that they have metrics to disprove a move like the one i described. However they do it, they must figure out rather successfully where and when and how much to spend on ads.

EDIT: had to fix a 'too' that should have been a 'to' or i wouldnt sleep tonight.

[Kupek]

Personally, I haven't gotten the impression that everyone thinks all advertising works.

Flip, the problem with doing that is after, say, ten years, people will forget. You might be fine after a month, two, maybe a year, but eventually, people will forget. It would also allow others to advertise their beverages uncontested. Brands like Coke do a different kind of advertising than, say, when Toyota advertises the Prius.

The Prius ads were are about something new, and are as much about informing you that the product exists as it is about convincing you to buy it. Coke ads are reminders. They're more "hey, don't forget about us."

I would, though, be fascinated to see the results of Coke completely stopping all ads for ten years, but I doubt they'd risk the corporate suicide to satisfy our curiosity.

[Lox]

And advertising works differently for different companies. I was watching The Shark Tank last night and none of the sharks would invest in this woman's sports bra business because she was competing with too many other known brands. In her case, the problem was that she was unknown and well planned/well done advertising could have changed that, but it would have been expensive up front. Once she was in the customer's minds, then she might have had a fighting chance against Starter and other brands.

[Don]

Well I think for a company like Coke, they do an ad to stay relevent and fresh on people's mind as opposed to trying to grab new share. I think they end up buying superbowl ads just because they don't want people to see only Pepsi ads in the Superbowl. So clearly, if Pepsi didn't advertise there, they wouldn't either, which means they probably don't gain money for the ad itself. I'm sure it's like a prisonner's dilemma thing where if Coke and Pepsi both spent $50 million advertising, it cancels each other out. But if only Pepsi spent $50 million for a superbowl ad, they'd gain $80 million at the expense of Coke, so Coke has to advertise anyway.

There's no doubt advertising can create value. But I often seen advertising referred as a magic fix for any problem. If your product sucks, just advertise more! Granted going by what Internet forums say isn't exactly a great gauge of intelligence, but I didn't think this concept is that hard to grasp.

[Shrinweck]

Well you always have new markets to brainwash (children) and hammering it into peoples heads day in and day out has to have some kind of subliminal effect sooner or later. *Sips his Sprite* Amiright?

[SineSwiper]

Ive always thought it would be interesting for a known company like coca-cola to say F it and pull all advertising just to see what would happen. My guess is that the drop in sales would be far less than the money they pour into marketing, but maybe not. I have never worked in a marketing department, but i can only assume that they have metrics to disprove a move like the one i described. However they do it, they must figure out rather successfully where and when and how much to spend on ads.

I always consider Coke/Pepsi ads to be more like "we exist" ads. They aren't showing a new product. They aren't trying to convince people to jump to their side. They are just saying "yeah, we exist".

It really it pretty stupid. People are born as Coke people or Pepsi people, so trying to advertise is a complete waste.

[Shrinweck]

Every time I order a Sprite/Coke/Dr Pepper and the server asks if 7UP/Pepsi/Mr Pibb is acceptable, I feel like saying "WHATEVER - BRING ME MY GENERIC SUGAR WATER WITH THE BUBBLES" but I don't want to be an asshole.

[Lox]

Ha...yeah, I feel the same way, but I know people who only like Coke or only like Pepsi. I can drink almost anything. haha

[Don]

I remember someone saying since Coke is a synonym for 'sugared beverage', let's say you ask for Coke they'll ask you 'Is Pepsi okay?' But it doesn't work the other way around. If you asked for Pepsi that clearly means you don't want Coke! Kind of funny if you think about it.

[bovine]

It's like, people only do things because they get paid and that's just really sad.

[Zeus]

For established, well-known brands in mature industries, the advertising is like many have said, a reminder in a way, more like a way to bring them to the very front of your consciousness when making a decision to consume in that industry. Everyone knows what Coke is and what it tastes like and very few people hate it. But what they're trying to do is stop someone like me from moving over to Dr. Pepper or A&W Root Beer, which I may just "feel like" or "just having gotten back to". If I recently saw a Coke advertisement, I may decide to buy a Coke instead when deciding what to drink since it's in the front of my consciousness.

And like Kup said, you also have to worry about down the road, not just now as well. They need to be at the very front of your consciousness in a mature industry where the market size is pretty much set and you have tons and tons of competition with new ones coming from nearly every angle (Vitamin water, energy drinks, etc.) in hopes of sometimes not losing market share.