Measuring Advertising Effectiveness
Over the weekend I purchased The King of Madison Avenue. It is a biography on the late David Ogilvy. David Ogilvy was considered one the greatest advertising minds in history. His U.S. firm of Ogilvy & Mather launched numerous successful advertising campaigns. These campaigns include companies such as Schweppes, Dove, Rolls-Royce, and Shell just to name a few. What made Ogilvy truly unique in the advertising field is his focus on results oriented advertising. Ogilvy’s advertising philosophy is rooted in direct response marketing. In its simplest form, direct response marketing correlates the money you spend on advertising with a direct return on investment. You should always be measuring advertising effectiveness. It’s fascinating to me that so many advertising agencies and graphic designers recognize Ogilvy’s greatness, yet ignore his most basic and powerful advertising philosophies. If you’re an event organizer, marketer, or promoter, I suggest that you embrace David Ogilvy’s advertising philosophies.
Over the last few month’s I’ve looked into some of Ogilvy’s basic advertising philosophies. Below are some quick links to various articles. I strongly encourage you to look through some of the articles. If you really want to raise your advertising prowess visit your local library take out a book on Ogilvy. I highly recommend Ogilvy on Advertising.
- David Ogilvy on Direct Response Marketing
- Advertising and Marketing that Sells
- Providing Massive Value in Your Marketing and Advertising
The US economy is facing increasingly difficult times. Because of the economically symbiotic relationship that exists, other nations also feel the economic hardship faced in the United States. The current economic situation creates both virtues and vices in the marketing and promotion of events. The disadvantage to event organizers is that prospective patrons are less likely to open their wallets. A reluctance to open one's wallet can be overcome by learning to be more persuasive with your target market. Ask yourself, “How can I take advantage of the current situation?” One economic advantage event organizers can embrace is increased advertising spend power. It’s never been so inexpensive to purchase advertising. You can gain market share and get your message out at a far lower price with the current economic conditions.
If you’re considering any advertising for your event, traditional or new media, make sure you measure the return on your advertising investment. This advertising ROI expectation should be carried with any advertising agencies you might hire. Let a prospective firm know upfront that you’d like to track the effectiveness of your event advertising campaigns. The best firms will gladly oblige your request.
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Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:
- P.T. Barnum on Advertising
- Your Event, Stories, and P.T. Barnum
- Barnum & Hyping Up Your Event
- Curiosity Advertising P.T. Barnum Style
- Online Marketing Like P.T. Barnum (Part I)
- Online Marketing Like P.T. Barnum (Part II)
- Turn Your Event Into an Experience
- The Event Promotion System
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Great to see more debate on advertising effectiveness. I've read a few books by or on David Ogilvy and think his thoughts are more relevant today than ever. He was a pioneer just like Lester Wunderman, who I think is one of the kings of DR thinking.
Unfortunately today I think there is a lack of accountability across the industry and more by design in online media, loads of data constructed to serve media agency's or publishers business models.
Good post, I'll be back to read more.
Posted by: JustinHind | 02/14/2009 at 02:30
Concerning the lack of adoption of performance metrics in advertising - were you referring in particular to online advertising channels or both online and offline channels?
Posted by: David M. Price | 02/03/2009 at 00:26