I recently read "The Fall of Advertising & The Rise Of PR" by Al Reis and Laura Reis.
The primary point of this book was that advertising has no credibility while publicity has credibility. The authors advise that companies introduce new products with publicity and then support existing and known products with advertising campaigns that remind people of the product. A single credible third-party endorsement carries much more currency than a flurry of self-promotion.
Other interesting and compelling points made by the Reis' were:
1) Ad agencies are too focused on developing creative ads that do not produce sales for their clients. The enfatuation with producing "creative ads" results from many people that work for ad agencies fantasizing that they are producing movies.
2) The many ad awards churned out by the ad industry reinforces "creativity" among the agencies which further shields the agencies from accountability in helping their clients increase sales. "The ad was good because it won an award. Sales fell because management didn't execute."
3) Companies should brand new products with completely different names, not line extensions. New names excite publicists and the media. Line extentions do not. Interestingly, ad agencies recommend that their clients go the line extension route because companies that call their new products by new names often change agencies.
4) The name of a product should tell a story. Publicists can relate to stories.
Publicity can create word of mouth marketing much more effectively than advertising. Viral marketing is the most influential form of marketing and is the focus of our Igniting Buzz Conference which will take place in San Francisco on February 27-28, 2006.
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