The Association of National Advertisers Needs A New Agency Of Record

July 21, 2010 By David Burn 2 Comments

The “ad” below was sent to me by email today.

Here’s some of the lead copy that goes along with it: “Celebrate ANA’s 100th anniversary by connecting with your colleagues–senior marketers and chief marketing officers–for an event, one hundred years in the making, that will bring you cutting-edge trends and ideas from the industry.”
It seems to me an event “one hundred years in the making” ought to have an ad to support it that was at least one week in the making.
Unfortunately, I see this kind of short-cutting all the time–some companies and non profit groups think so highly of their product or service offering, that they put little or no effort into building their brand.
The reality is it’s a big mistake to remain undifferentiated, and brand building is all about finding memorable ways to showcase a company’s key points of difference. It’s something every company needs.

Filed Under: Ad People, Brands, Email

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17. She went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time. Starting in Portland in 1995, I worked my way across the country as a copywriter and eventually became a content director making media products for big packaged goods brands. I returned to Oregon in 2008, and now I focus on building brands for companies that matter, including this one.

http://www.adpulp.com Dan Goldgeier

And something tells me that discovering cutting edge trends and ideas would require a more modern technique than using some sort of telescope at street level. Unless you’re involved in corporate espionage, in which case you’re stealing ideas, not discovering them.
http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com HighJive

At the end of the day, it all demonstrates a few realities:
The ANA is comprised of outdated hacks who are clearly in need of help from advertising agencies – although these clowns ultimately get their agencies to do work that is not very good.
Take a look at some of the “groundbreaking insights” delivered during a past ANA convention:

On the flipside, ad folks don’t do much better when promoting their own stuff:
http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com/2010/07/7763-clio-wont-win-clio.html