Brandtailers has spent the last six months working on some amazing new online video technology that we will be introducing next spring. Although we can’t talk about it yet. working on this project continuously reminds us that consumers’ most precious commodity is still their time, and whatever can be viewed online vs. read online in a blog post (like this one – oops) is going to become even more popular in 2012 and beyond.
Most of us know that YouTube is now the second most powerful search engine in the world after Google. (Gee, who owns it?) But it’s more than that. The powers that be at Google had the foresight to realize that just as books turn into movies, reading content online will morph into viewing it. Let’s face it, we all prefer to take the easy way out. The day will come before too long when people say, “Remember when we had to READ things online?”
With this in mind, we’d like you to enjoy our semi-freaky Brandtailers holiday video-card, which just goes to prove there’s a reason why the U.S. Postal service is going out of business. We’ve always been somewhat known for our interesting holiday cards, normally shot, printed, processed and mailed averaged about $4,500. However this cost us a whopping $52.70. Welcome to the new world!
When I saw Rick Perry’s Presidential Debate “Oops” re-played on the news this week, I cringed. Not because I was concerned for Rick Perry (this is a non-political blog post), but because of how easily I compared Perry’s “Oops” to the average commercial on TV today.
Think about it…
Governor Perry’s self-promotion opportunity was experienced by millions of TV viewers, just like a typical broadcast advertisement. Perry was using the time and place to convince millions of citizens to choose him over his competition, again just like a typical broadcast advertisement. Viewers may not have expected Perry to be great, but they didn’t expect him to be embarrassing. The same holds true for the average modern day TV advertisement. Perry destroyed his powerful self-promotion opportunity by coming to the party unprepared to give consumers what they really want – trust. The same holds true for most commercials.
If we take the time to analyze why we use our remote controls so aggressively during commercials, it’s because most ads embarrass us with their lack of consideration for our intelligence. Even more disappointing, the main reason today’s bad commercials aren’t getting Perry’s current level of negative press is because we’ve become immune to them. We expect Perry to deliver presidential capabilities in a debate, but we don’t expect commercials to deliver influential messages that make us want to respond.
In the movie Art & Copy, Lee Clow, Chairman and Global Director of TBWA\Worldwide, said most advertising today is bad because everyone involved with the creative itself is afraid. How true. The marketing committee of the product or service is so afraid of failing they won’t take chances. That’s why there’s a committee in the first place, right? And the agency is afraid of losing the account, so they wouldn’t dare suggest any potential risks. And yet, risk is where art meets influence, and we consumers are enticed to take action.
Instead, consumers end up experiencing the mundane. Add the current economy into the scenario, and there is even more fear of failure resulting in messages as embarrassing to most consumers as Rick Perry’s brain freeze is to potential voters.
Isn’t it a shame we’re used to it? I’d like to see the advertising industry take a stand for the customer, and promise them that all future advertisements will be produced to deliver compelling, interesting, entertaining, and truthful creative messages. Maybe Brandtailers will take this lead. Who says change always has to come from the big boys?





Question: What’s the one advertising technique that is almost 100% guaranteed to sell your product?










