The power of advertising

Clyde McKenzie, Contributor

A number of comments have come in about my recent observations on some of the commercials aired on overseas-based television networks that have caught my attention. I felt vindicated by my choice, as a number of persons to whom I spoke seemed to agree with my selections.

Let me state that a well-produced commercial is no guarantee that the product which it seeks to promote will be a success. There are far more factors that determine the success of a product in the market, such as its quality and its supporting services.

I can think of many products that have had very well executed advertising campaigns, but have become colossal flops sometimes after an initial success.

On the other hand, I have seen a number of products that have done very well without a significant amount of activity in the media.

I have always advocated for the availability of data on the efficacy of advertising campaigns. Are we giving undue credit to the impact of some of these fancy advertising campaigns? Maybe we sometimes are: Some of the simplest commercials are sometime the most effective. We need to be able to identify what factors make people buy.

I am perhaps partial to Grace products, not because of the advertising campaign that they have mounted, though they have had some good ones, but because I believe I will always get quality based on my experience. I must admit that often times we become hooked on a product simply based on the recommendation of a friend. I am particularly fond of the Island Grill Jerked Fish and Callaloo Rice, which I was introduced to by a friend, not from any media campaign, and have been having it since.

On the other hand, I have had reports from friends about the operations of some well advertised establishments that would make one's hair stand on end. There is a popular used car company which has been getting a bad name among its customers despite its strong advertising presence. It seems the company has mediocre individuals in positions of power thus destroying what could have been a powerful brand.

There were several people who informed me that it might well be better for some businesses to allocate their resources to training and product improvement and less on fancy advertisements. This might be an extreme position, but it has its merits. Yet, a well executed campaign is often the first contact a consumer makes with a particular product. If the product matches the hype of a good campaign then one usually has a winner.

Naturally, I was also asked about my preference for commercials aired on local television. Among those which readily came to mind were the original Boysie ads with Joan Andrea Hutchinson and Michael London, the Western Union commercials with Francois and Jean Rhone and, of course, the Family Planning series with Judy Brown 'the maths brain from primary school'. Certainly there are many more commercials , including some of the recent Kentucky efforts.

I do like some of those Guardian commercials which came in for some criticism in the press, especially the one with Leonie Forbes, who is such a class act. As I noted, in my previous article, special effects seem to have become so commonplace that they have lost much of their impact in dazzling us.

Incidentally, there was one commercial that was not in my original list that was cited by a number of those who commented on my article; that hair loss piece done by Merck. If you haven't seen it, check it.

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