Why Advertising Needs Its Head Examined

I was in Dubai earlier this week and had a terrific time. I'll be writing a post about it very shortly as there is a lot to share and a few assumptions that need clarification about this very cosmopolitan part of the world.

However, in the mean time it just struck me while departing through the airport that while it's all fine and good to have a decent monologue with customers beating our brand chests, the whole point about the 21st century marketing and Web 2.0/Digital dialogue is that if brands aren't able to shift into that dialogue mode when circumstances demand, then they end up losing so much of their effort.

Their credibility, their hard work, professionalism, vision and outlook. Everything is contextual (yes I know 'yawn') and if the only context that agencies can think of for their clients are rose coloured Ray Bans with duty free fragrance, then they are aggravating problems and pathologically avoiding the solution.

There is quite possibly nothing more patronising then seeing the output of 20th century marketing automatons delivering a monologue on the virtues of a brand when the reality is all too evident that agencies and marketing folk are a bunch of money grubbing air heads that don't know how to turn around a problem into an a golden opportunity.

As Rob says quite rightly, a customer complaint is a brilliant opportunity to create a brand advocate. I say a problem is when we really need to start talking to customers not just invading their social media/digital arena when it suits us.

All the time these poor folks were dealing with the reality of 3rd millennium air travel and the inevitable delays, a screen the size of three billiard tables above them was spouting forth the usual distorted advertising superlatives that are perfectly applicable when everything is ticketyboo (A Hindi expression "tikai babu," meaning "it's all right, sir.") but are a shameless example of why most marketing blows chunks big time, and why advertising specifically is seen as only slightly higher up the food chain than political rhetoric.

I absolutely love great advertising and I'm a great admirer of Emirates the airline, but if any brand or agency isn't talking about ways to open up a meaningful dialogue with their customers during the inevitable part of life when things don't go according to plan then very simply they are inevitably wasting money on advertising 1.0 and pissing off people with the sort of bad manners we reserve for bores at dinner parties that dominate the conversation with the sound of their own voice. I've got 20 ideas in my head how Emirates and Dubai could win over everyone of the carpet sleepers I saw that night but you can rest assured that filling that stadium screen with more chest beating 'hub of the world' content is way more important than getting some digital/web/advertising 2.0 solutions into the mix.

Making profits isn't as hard as it made out to be. Losing customer loyalty and the money that goes with it is even easier.

Spread The Love

Designed in response to people who champion Pownce, as per last nights dialogue. Via Paul Isakson and No Chucking Around.

Travel - X

Danish Travel Management System Commercial

Chanel

Ed just posted about Chanel and so I've got to get this off my chest. Chanel are kicking retail ass at the moment in so many ways that I can only describe as creative tumescence pour moi. 

I passed their flagship store in Bejing and pulled out the Canon to snap their window display. It's on another level and frankly I could write about just their shoes for a few hundred words. 

I realise that luxury is the opposite of a lot of values I espouse on this blog but never confuse true beauty and design genius with high bills.

Why I've been quiet

Well primarily I've been flying , and I still have a little more to do although I'm hoping to squeak in another Tamil Nadu run if time permits (God I love India) but I'm also having difficulty accessing, posting and uploading pictures of my blog here in China.

I'm very aware that I've dipped out on some memes that came my way, not responded to a gazillion emails or interesting comments on my blog, and even failed to write some pieces I was asked to. There are naturally reasons for this and I anticipate things will be back to normal sometime in the beginning of June.

Who do you want as the next U.S. President?

Some time back a very bright friend of mine who commits his formidable intellect to social entrepreneur projects came up with an idea that has been waiting for the internet to come of age. We all know that the decisions made in Washington D.C. (or is it Crawford Ranch now?) have an impact around the world that is disproportionate to the population of the U.S. vis a vis the rest of the world .

It's always been the case that the U.S. election is the only political show in town that counts, and for those U.S. residents who feel it's an exclusive affair to holders of U.S. citizenship well the rest of the world disagrees and I can assure you the last 7 years have been deplorable. We're not happy and it impacts directly on our live, and now here's your chance to be heard.

The good news is that the global community now has the opportunity to express who they wish to represent them in the next presidential election through the good work of Joey Baxter and his friend at Community Counts. So if you remember this post from some months back, the site has been built and is ready to rock and roll. Now is the time to sort out the year of the rat. The votes break down neatly by geographical location too which adds some relevancy to your choice of candidate.

Go here and make a point for a few seconds if you can.

Web Features

Window cleaners at the Sheraton in Shanghai. Now if they were particularly obtuse Sony Pictures would be all over them with writs. Or if they were clever they would P.R the hell out of this. I understand the idea came from a brainstorm with the workers. Thus dismissing that solipsists debate to the refuse area where it belongs.

Via the excellent Shanghaiist.