Print Advertising...

In my job, I read a lot of print ads. I read through like sixty five newspapers and magazines every day. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I do read through quite a few. Just today, I read through every section of the Capital Gazette, The Baltimore Sun, and The Washington Post. Then I started on magazines. I went through Baltimore magazine, Washingtonian, What's Up Annapolis, Inside Annapolis, Washington SmartCEO and Corridor Inc.

Why do I do this, you ask? I actually enjoy looking at ads. I love this business, and I love my art. However, the main reason I do this is because looking at the business that are advertising gives me a good idea of the businesses that would probably be interested in working with an agency to make said advertising even better. Get it? Plus, if I see an advertiser that is spending a pretty penny on some really stinky ads, I go after them even harder, because then I KNOW we could do better.

Lately, I've been noticing that the ads have been....meh, not that great. They haven't been extra specially terrible, and they most certainly haven't been awesome. Just...mediocre. So many advertisers are just wasting their money with mediocre ads. Ads that get their name out there, but don't get noticed. They don't command attention. They have no drama, no creativity.

Yeah, Mr. Advertiser, I'm calling you out. Your ads are boring. Why? I think I know. You're scared. You're scared of straying from the norm and offending someone. You're scared of alienating a couple people in your target audience, so you stay safe. I'm here to tell you that you're making a big mistake. Safe doesn't do anyone any good. Would you rather dazzle many and offend a few, or dazzle and offend nobody? If you don't dazzle anyone, nobody's going to take notice of your ad, and nobody's going to purchse your product or service.

So I say, let it all hang out. Blow your target audience away with an aggressive, edgy ad that drives home your messages. And don't be afraid to turn a few off. If they're not going to purchase your product or service because of an ad, they're probably not the right customer for you. So be it!

Safe is for wusses. Any advertisers that aren't afraid of stirring it up and making a scene - I encourage you to contact me via email. To see some of said advertising, visit www.bestadagencyever.com. There, I promise you'll see some good stuff - including the words pedophile, wuss, and yes, ASS. Enjoy.

Garret Ohm