The ad you never should have made
Have you heard about Shazam? If you own a smartphone you probably have. And you probably know exactly what Shazam does, right? One more question. Have you ever seen an ad for Shazam? I haven’t, and I’m guessing a lot of people haven’t seen one neither. Shazam is a service so simple it doesn’t need advertising
Since it’s birth the advertising industry has specialized itself in selling bad products through advertising, where today they actually should be specialized advising companies how build products that advertise their selves.
If we want ad agencies to be relevant in the future we need to convince brands to help with the R&D of their new products. Instead of hiring agencies to invent a brandpromise and advertise across media old and new, hire agencies to help building a product or a service that doesn’t need a promise, nor a USP.
When reading Mel Exon from BBH post on ‘Agencies Moving Upstream’ I ran along this quote:
“Sometimes strategic and creative time is best spent thinking of new product or service innovations for clients. Ad agencies have developed amazing innovations for clients, and I think the best example of this is the Happy Meal for McDonalds. Just this week I heard CP+B is testing a new product for Kraft Mac and Cheese for the Grill.”
Mel proposes some steps we can take to move more upstream in a client’s business starting at an execution level, moving up to strategy (where most of the agencies stand today), further up to R&D ending up in Venture Capital, where agencies are no longer hired, but an actual partner in developping the business.
But do we belong as far upstream as Mel suggests? We do. In this video David Pogue, tech columnist at NY Times, points out where brands fail to build products or services that fail. Not because they lack innovation, but because they are built from a technological point of view.
Comments
Wouldn't say Shazam was never advertised.. Apple itself used it as one of their USP apps when selling the first gen iPhone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hny-G-0nUBM
It's true Apple used Shazam to advertise, but only to advertise what the iPhone/iPad can do. I think that proves our point even more. Apple is using a (third party) product as it's advertising.
Shazam probably did some advertising, but I don't think it was the advertising that made it sell so well.
Euhm, aren't you confusing advertising with marketing?
In product development one of the basic principles of innovation is that you start from either a technology push or a market pull.
What you are talking about is a market pull. Which is the job of any good marketeer to identify through market research. Don't know if it is the job of an advertising agency rather than a marketing agency to be involved that early in the development fase.
Actually the article is about blurring the lines between what you call a market pull and a technology push and taking communication further upstream. Brands can co-operate with their agencies to build products that are relevant to people so that they don't need to be advertised. If we keep thinking in terms of 'market pull' or 'technology push', crappy products and services will keep existing and so will bad and pointless advertising.
It's cool! Well, it may be differ how it comes up to that idea but what matter most is that they think how people will benefit from their products.
OH yeah... I've seen the videos of David. It's nice and informative.
Cool, so I am one off the few who did not know this app. Downloading right now.
OH yeah... I've seen the videos of David. It's nice and informative.
Shazam probably did some advertising, but I don't think it was the advertising that made it sell so well. oh
I think that being creative when it comes to advertising is a major aspect of being successful. Imagine two people talking on the street: "have you seen that commercial with that guy hugging the tree?". Now imagine that they talk about your commercial. Would you like that? Then be creative and think out of the box.
Creative advertising can manage to sell products that wouldn't sell if you try a normal advertising campaign. Shazam understands this pattern and acts accordingly. It is no surprise that they are so successful with their strategy.
Zentai is a term for skin-tight garments that cover the entire body. http://www.vzentai.com/
Thanks for posting this. Very nice recap of some of the key points in my talk. I hope you and your readers find it useful!
advertising can manage to sell products that wouldn't sell if you try a normal advertising campaign. Shazam understands this pattern and acts accordingly.
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Cool, so I am one off the few who did not know this app. Downloading right now.
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