You Can't Please Everyone

I'm a big believer in research, when it's done right. Which, in the marketing and advertising business, isn't always the case. Too often researchers put on scientific airs while ignoring the scientific method, publishing tables and reports that impress as much for their heft as for their preachy (and occasionally incorrect) conclusions.*

Magazine ad recall studies are often a case in point. I recently received one from a publication in which we ran an ad for one of our clients. Don't get me started on the flaws in methodology (there are many); what I found so entertaining were the verbatim comments that were included in the study's appendix.

This is not sour grapes, mind you. Our ad actually performed very well according to this study, and positive comments outweighed the negative. Here are a few examples:

• Great ad. Very effective. It's interesting looking so it made me take a second look.
• Simple layout. Conveys just the right amount of information about the company and their product.
• This is the most perfect ad about (product)! Humor, art, and fun with a machine! Great.
• Funny, appealing, modern ad. Pulls you in to read about it.
• I really like this ad. In fact it makes me smile.
• Very effective and interesting. Message received!

Not bad, eh? Well, get a load of what some of the haters said:

• Didn't get my attention.
• Show the product! (we didn't)
• Needs improvements.
• Only negative would be that visually the solid blue background not as appealing.

Show the product, don't show the product. I really like it, didn't get my attention. Great ad, needs improvement. Push me, pull you. What's an advertiser to do?

Hang tight, that's what. We work diligently with our clients to understand their target audiences, craft their brand identities, and create integrated marketing strategies that will get them attention in the marketplace. The fact that a handful of people don't understand or appreciate any given execution is, well, the way life is. It happens to the best of ads and the best of brands.

If there's one thing we can all learn from master marketers, it's that you can't please everyone. Try to do so and you may get no attention at all.

Steve McKee is president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland and author of When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You're Stuck, and What to Do About It . Find him on Twitter and LinkedIn.