Advertising. It Works.
Advertising works. Doubt that? A recent article by Steven Heller in Daily Magazine inspired me to think about advertising – and how important it is to success. For those of you not familiar with Heller, he’s kind of a big deal. He’s the author, co-author and editor of more than 100 books on design and was an art director for the New York Times for more than 33 years. And the right kind of advertising can even manage to take someone (or some thing) from nobody status to somebody status – and pretty quickly
Heller’s piece explored the 1954 George Cukor film “It Should Happen to You” starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon. The film’s main character was Gladys Glover (played by Holliday). Much like the Kim Kardashians and Paris Hiltons and Perez Hiltons of today, Gladys was a nobody who wanted to be somebody. And she was determined to get it, come hell or high water. And, the fact that she was loaded and not afraid to spend money didn’t hurt her in her quest for fame.
To accomplish her goal of ‘being somebody’ Gladys rented an empty billboard in NYC’s Times Square. A manufacturing company who wanted the space was surprised when she turned out to be a tough negotiator. Six billboards later – billboards bearing nothing but her name – Gladys had what she wanted. Attention. And just like the ‘somebodys’ of today, she milked it for all it was worth.
Heller calls it the beginning of the ‘me’ generation. That may well be the case. But I think it’s also a pretty good example of the old adage: Advertising works. It can even make a nobody a somebody. And it never ceases to amaze me how many businesses forget this simple adage. Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come. Advertising – of some form or another, is just about always an important component of any successful strategy.
