Super Relational Marketing Blunders

Sunday night, I watched the Super Bowl with some good friends and it was an incredible game!  Unfortunately the game was interrupted in the 3rd quarter by a 30-minute delay when the New Orleans Super Dome suddenly lost electrical power. The annoying outage sucked a lot of energy out of the Super Bowl party, the game, and the rhythm of both teams.

As I was driving home, I realized that the power outage that put the stadium into temporary darkness wasn't the only annoying interruption.  Almost every commercial break also felt like an annoying marketing interruption.  Major brands that had our undivided attention displayed TV ads that were pointless and had no method to the madness.

It looked as though every ad was trying to be gimmicky or memorable and they all were shooting in the dark, missing the most valuable question that everyone was thinking as they sat and watched these commercials.  And that was why should I buy this, drink that, or wear this?  How will it make my life better?  What’s in it for me that will improve my well-being?  But instead, these companies have marketing people that spent $3 million for each 30 second spot that missed the point, thinking that gimmicks or silly outrageous scenes would convince someone to buy their product.

This is the marketing myth that is being perpetuated by advertisers thinking that generating awareness or getting people’s attention with humor or spoofs is the key to successful relational marketing.  Just because you make someone laugh or shock them with provocative images doesn't mean people are going to buy your goods or services.  And just because you have the world’s attention during a major event doesn't mean you can make them buy.

People purchase goods and services according to the principal of self-interest.  Remember we are all looking for relationships with benefits, right?  So, you can make an audience laugh, even engage them in some talk on social media sites, but there is no money conversion rate to laughter and talk.  Banks don’t accept laughter and talk as deposits.

Getting people to remember your product and service is important to any marketing and advertising campaign so don’t get me wrong.  I laughed at some of the ads myself, but PLEASE, don’t lose sight of what you want people to remember most and that is the VALUE your offering.  Wrap the benefits up in your ads with humor and provocative statements so people remember why they should buy your goods or services.

If you’re not going to do that, then save that $3 million dollars to go towards keeping your lights on and paying the bills, because if you miss the mark by answering the public questions by explaining how’s and why’s  should I buy, what’s in it for me?  They’ll just view your promotions like I did and not buy your products or services, wondering what that ad was about and just be annoyed.

Stretching your relational capital in business and life,


Ron Broussard
Stretch Yourself