Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis. The Men’s Room, 10 minutes before Springsteen takes the stage.
I overhear a man commenting on this ad …
… asking his friend, “Isn’t it strange to advertise advertising?
At least everything else was well-targeted in the vicinity.
(And, by the way, Bruce got 10,000 people’s undivided attention for 2 hours and 20 minutes.)
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In addition to writing, I spend most of my work time helping companies unleash their potential by creating better connections with their customers. This happens through my speaking events and through Yastrow & Company consulting engagements, where my team and I help companies figure out who they intend to be in the future, and then engage the entire company in creating that future through strong "We" customer relationships.
Before starting Yastrow & Company in the mid-90s I was vice-president of resort marketing for Hyatt Hotels. My experiences in the hotel business showed me clearly that most marketing doesn’t happen in the marketing department. Customers are paying attention to all interactions with a company, not just the promises made in traditional "marketing communications."
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Whether or not it’s effective to advertise advertising, it’s not strange at all. What’s ironic, though, is that media have to use competitive media to advertise themselves.
The classic story is about the New York Times, which had (and probably still has) a stringent policy forbidding unsubstantiable superlatives, but which permitted the Chicago Tribune, in the ad it ran every week in the Sunday Times,to call itself The World’s Greatest Newspaper. When asked about the policy deviation re superlatives, the Times responded, “The New York Times can afford to be magnanimous.”
I guess the Times thought the Tribune ad was fit to print.
I’ll admit, my problem with this is the whole idea that advertising is about “capturing eyeballs” and “grabbing their attention.” It’s like Room 101 in 1984 - Winston was forced to watch. He wasn’t having fun.