Ferrero Roche

Don't look at me  

I LOVE the Marks and Spencers adverts and will rush out and buy all their stuff cos it all looks great 

I don't necessarilly 'rush out' and buy, but if I come across something while I'm shopping for other things, then I will consider buying

Anything that Jamie Oliver recommends I would not buy anyway

Well thanks for nothing you lot. George Orwell was right, the only thing he got wrong was the year 

Heston Blumethals christmas pudding .............and often the M&S ads do it for me.

We were all totally agreeing with you

Oh but, but! I thought I was agreeing with what you said   advertising doesn't make me rush out and buy

Actually - I'm no expert on the subject but I'd guess that expensive advertising does pay off - TBF we are so far down the line re advertising I think the big companies really do know what pays and what doesn't.

Kids toys advertising is something else!!!!! If you hit the right nerve you simply can't go wrong!

Ferrero Roche, Marks and Sparks, 'if I come across something', Christmas pudding...

You are all victims of subliminal advertising. I, on the other hand can see through it all and will buy nothing. In fact I might not buy anything ever again in case I've seen it on telly. So there

Actually that's a good point  'mum, dad, I want THAT!'. Parents should sue imo.

Never under estimate the power of advertising to those who like to be led by their noses.
And besides, it brings in BIG revenue for many companies. 

Does it though? You'd have to be pretty thick to fall for the vacuous drivel most adverts subject you to. Then again, The Sun is very popular 

But lots of people are

I'm pretty certain it does. It will be carefully monitored - if it didn't pay - they wouldn't do it. You may be above or 'think' that you see right through it but ..........................I'm fairly certain it must pay off.

How would you monitor it? You can't gauge how many people buy your product as a result of an advert. The marketing monkeys will argue it gives solidity to the brand name but in 99.9 per cent of cases (Marks and Sparks for example) the brand name is already there. People know what it is and exactly what they're going to get.

I am thick

It is official

At this time of year it's best to meet your relations in order  to negotiate a present treaty. Cash is also good. One then promises to wait for the post Christmas sales. Come the Christmas sales, one cannot be arsed. Result: A cost effective Christmas and a bit of spare cash to spend on things one really needs.

I'm fairly certain you can ........you don't spend thousands of pounds without tracking what happens to the advertised products  and related  sales. I think this years Heston Blumnenthals christmas pudding is a prime example ..............they've completely sold out. I haven't got a Waitrose near me but i actively sought out someone to get me one.

My SIL worked for a drinks compANY and I found it quite fascinating to hear of the research and analytical studies that went on in relation to advertising. We all like to think we aren't suckered in (a lot may not be) but lots are. It's all about aspiration etc. etc.

Or maybe subliminal advertising hasn't been outlawed as we all once thought . I just don't see how it can pay to spend a fortune imprinting a brand name or product on people's brains when they already know exactly what they're going to get. The kids toys example is the best one so far as it's new to the kids and they put pressure on the parents to buy the new toy or big computer game etc but established brands that just say 'buy us because we are us' reeks to me of marketing monkeys having an advertising budget and having to use it even if they don't know why.

I food shop in M&S regularly ....................a while ago they did a fantastic ad for a pie (of all things) it looked wonderful. It was three weeks before I could lay my hands on one - apparently as fast aS they came into the shop they were sold. As I said - I shop there fairly regularly but I'm fairly certain that people were going in specifically for that pie ......................if it wasn't available - they'd more than likely buy something else instead - hence increaSED revenue and potential new long term customers. I firmly believe that like it or not advertising works.

I'm not being patronising but ....................have you ever worked within an industry that relies on promotion/advertising?

Yes I have And people paid unbelievable amounts of money for one page or two page spreads (magazines) where the product in question absolutely bombed.

I can see your point that just getting people into the shop in the first place is a good idea because they will spend money but I can not suspend my belief to the point I can believe a pie advert had you running to M&S 

It must have been a tasty looking pie 

I shop in there twice a week anyway................my point is - lots of folks must have been running to buy the same pie (just like Hestons pudding) as thet couldn't satisfy the demand ...............there was an empty space day after day (I don't do early morning shopping)....................surely that's proof that advertising works isn't it? As it happens - when I did get m y mits on the aforementioned pie - it really wasn't that good.

As for saying that companies have a pre allocated advertising budget and it's spent willy nilly I have to disagree ............the advertising world is cut throat and the results are analysed scrupuloesly(sp) - sadly a lot of companies go under simply because they fail to promote themselves adequately - in this day and age you have to compete and word of mouth isn't always enough.

Disagree to your hearts content it's 100 per cent true. They often spend some of it on things that aren't directly related to advertising because they know advertising is like pissing in the wind and hoping some of it lands on your target. I know for a fact they spend it because they have to.

I still don't believe you were in such a rush for that pie. You don't strike me as gullible. I'm not saying advertising doesn't work I am saying it only works in very particular circumstances and very often it's only used to keep the brand name in the public eye which they could do for a fraction of the money they spend but hey, if they don't spend it their budget is less the following year. And so the incredible waste of finances that would be better suited to making the product better continues unabated. Such is life, the world goes round, major companies waste huge amounts of money on things that have no effect. Ever was it so in both cases unless you feel like arguing the world is not round again

No ...............you're so obviously right and I must be wrong.

We're both right. I just know that most advertising expenditure is wrong and isn't even spent on advertising (marketing types don't even believe in it themselves). Didn't mean to sound aggressive I've just seen it first hand and know how pointless it is most of the time 

Hmmm well Prom you know I've worked in media sales for nearly 17 years (mostly press so I'm well aware of full page and DPS ads) and I have to argue against what you're saying.

Advertising IS measurable in some respects, the most effective is online advertising as it's a completely measurable source (page views, compressions, sales, referrals...etc).

6 or 7 years ago, Marketing execs would get a budget and just throw it to the wind, not really caring where or how, just getting the brand name out there in the best platform available (the good old days of making easy wedge ). However, since 2007 when whispers of recession caught on, budgets were revised and everything became about R.O.I. (return on investment). It's all about brand awareness, no companies cannot measure successfully the result on tv advertising, but it IS measurable by hikes in footfall to the stores or spikes in visits to the site (especially if visitors are immediately heading for or enquiring about something that has been advertised).

The way companies and ad agencies see it, they need to keep an awareness going, either to promote a new product or keep up a presence.I've worked with some of the major ones in the past (L'oreal, Max Factor, Waitrose, Mothercare, Peugeot...etc) - they are companies who will frequently offer special deals or new products so there is an arguable need for a presence within media platforms to promote the product and drive sales..

Another client I worked with, Unilever (who own half the world it seems) - do not bring out new products on such a regular basis, but will still keep their products advertised as it's a way of keeping it in the mind of the consumer. Advertising is a very seductive industry, no doubt about it. TV and radio ads are scheduled to appeal to a certain demographic, same with press. There's loads of research that's gone into why one product can appeal to a consumer more than another product that does exactly the same thing, and the main result has been promotion and brand attractiveness, not price.

Since the only thing I watch live regularly on TV is the BBC News, I don't tend to see adverts. The nearest I get to it is taping the Emmerdale Omnibus and fast forwarding through the ads when I watch it back.

I love the latest clothes M&S advert I take notice of some of the adverts, some of the adverts  like Morrisons and Asda could not tempt me, two places I never shop for different reasons.

Karma you said what I wanted to say - I don't have the terminology. Thank you 

Indeed! the Beeb has a huge advantage, but this is no time for complacency. There are evil dark forces at work who, if they could, would have it whipped away from the state quicker than you can say supercalibiscuitcrumbs. They see it as  a marketing opportunity and not a media outlet.

It must do otherwise those companies wouldn't do it.

Oooh ta I went into work mode and automatically banged on about it like I was talking to a client who needed to be converted

Reading it again, I sounded right pompous (especially the bit about 'oh I've been doing this a long time'). Didn't mean it to come across like that at all, every one has a right to an opinion about stuff! 

(Just that on this occasion, Prometheus was WRONG )

They wouldn't bother doing it if it didn't

Absolutely, when ITV had the F1 all the adverts were aimed at men... cars, beer, cider etc cos they know the majority of the audience would be male

I thought your post was proper good, Karma

I didn't understand the half of what Karma wrote BUT I love the fact that she trod all over Prom's argument in her jimmy choos...

Well said that woman

Well ..............who'd have thought it  -I never read his name as Prometheus - I see it as Pompetheus