How Science Started to Dominate Advertising
In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge pronounced a benediction on the business of advertising:
"Advertising ministers to the spiritual side of trade. It is a great power that has been intrusted to your keeping which charges you with the high responsibility of inspiring and ennobling the commercial world. It is all part of the greater work of regeneration and redemption of mankind."
Between 1926 and today, we proceeded dealing with advertising as if it was more science than art. Reach and frequency were introduced, new metrics like GRP and TRP started to dominate the language of the business and now we measure our reach in terms of impressions. Coolidge's idea of inspiration and spiritual redemption through advertising was replaced by spreadsheets, perspiration and a dominance of left-brain thinking.
Is Advertising Art Or Science?
If advertising is a matter of data and science, why do we remember an Apple commercial from 1984 that ran once? And why do I get so annoyed when I see the same, mediocre ad over and over again, behaviorally targeting the hell out of me and perfectly aligned with reach and frequency formulas? I would argue, there's an advertising world outside of science. It's called creative... Read more
Tagged 'trp' 
Frequency is the penalty for mediocre ads
How Seeking A
Lots and lots of years ago someone realized it wasn't just a good idea to trade one guy's wares for another's. Money was invented to make these transactions easier by trading a commonly agreed upon currency. Great idea. Fast forward to May, 2010, in Miami, FL.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending Compete, Inc's CMO Summit in Miami. The CEO of one of the major WPP companies suggested that the need to find a common currency for measuring online and its delivery is one of the biggest things holding us back. Someone also mentioned this while asking a question from the audience. While developing currency thousands of years ago was a good idea, we still see the value in having various currencies around the world rather than a one-world bank and currency. There is a reason for that, and to suggest we should adopt a single "currency" online, not to mention the fact that it's the biggest thing holding us back, has got to be one of the scariest and regressive proposed behaviors I've ever heard come across in our industry. There are two major reasons for this.
First, there is a need for currency in general but simplifying everything... Read more
