It’s not like there aren’t good ads out there. Ads that touch people. Ads that make a real connection to real people. Ads that seem to understand what’s on people’s minds . . . and what’s going on in their world. Ads that celebrate what’s good and valuable and important about the brand and the way it fits into people’s lives.
Not to sound jaded, but it seems like the good ones are becoming a smaller and smaller slice of the advertising pie. And even the agencies that create those good ads seem to have their fair share of the same old same old on their reels and in their portfolios.
Maybe it’s the people doing the work. Maybe it’s the people running the agencies. Maybe it’s the people buying the campaigns. Maybe it’s some combination of the three. You don’t have to look that hard for evidence that somewhere along the line, somebody is putting bad advertising out into the world.
But there is an alternative.
Good ads. Ads that tell great stories. Ads that share important ideas. Ads that make people feel. And think. Ads they welcome into their homes. And their lives. Ads they want to watch and read and see and listen to and click on. Ads that make people glad they spent a little time with the brand. Ads that make them want to spend more time with the brand.
What if, instead of giving into the worst impulses of a cynical age, advertising started with a single premise:
With advertising, we can put positive energy into the world.
For the brands we steward. For the people we’re trying to reach. For ourselves. For our industry. For the culture. For the heck of it.
Because it feels better.
Because it is better.
And because it works better.
