Does this ad work for you?

by admin on January 20, 2009

hughpr

This ad was drawn by Hugh MacLeod for Edleman PR. Regular readers will know I have no love of PR as largely practised in the UK and US. Even so, for me, this ad brilliantly captures the values the firm wishes to portray.But the real genius is that the ad draws you in to study it.

Spot how many could be seen as common to the profession:

  • Everything is a work in progress (or it ought to be)
  • Business is change, there is nothing else
  • At the cost of significant disruption
  • The conflicting demands of the crowd and the company

This is what I mean when I argue about how the profession needs to change and how attitudes to new ideas need refreshing.

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Tagged as: Hugh MacLeod, Marketing

  • http://www.kashflow.co.uk Duane Jackson

    “But the real genius is that the ad draws you in to study it.”
    Exactly – that’s the beauty of it for me.

    The first challenge with an ad is to get the reader to stop turning pages and pay attention to what you have to say. The above does it perfectly.

  • http://neilbartlett.name/blog Neil Bartlett

    Hmm it looks kind of like a Mind Map, but less structured and with distracting doodles.

    Nope, doesn't really work for me.

    • http://www.accmanpro.com Dennis Howlett

      @neil – I will confess to a soft spot for Hugh. But even though you don't like it, you still tried to make some sense of it. Right?

      • http://neilbartlett.name/blog Neil Bartlett

        Yes I did, so I suppose I need to correct myself. The ad works… I just don't like it.

        In a sense there's no such thing as a bad ad. Even the irritating ads at least make you aware of the brand, and might even stick in your head better than the entertaining ones.

  • http://www.sixtysecondview.com David Brain

    Thanks for this Dennis and the comments are intersting too. Hugh does have a way of getting us all talking doesn't he.

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