<font color="#FF3333"><b>AdAsia 2003:</b></font> Advertisers have lost focus of the key purpose of advertising: Sergio Zyman

‘Sell more stuff, to more people, more often, for more money, more efficiently.' It's surely not going to be easy getting a lot of advertising past someone who swears by a marketing motto as exacting as this. And if it's advertising that doesn't meet the basic purpose of all advertising - selling brands, products and services - it's advertising that should certainly never have been made in the first place. That much Sergio Zyman, chairman, Zyman Marketing Group, made perfectly clear in the course of the video conference he had with AdAsia delegates late last evening.

Not surprising, coming from the best-selling author of The End of Marketing As We Know It, and ex-senior vice-president and CMO, the Coca-Cola Company. For it was during his tenure at Coca-Cola that the Atlanta-based company recorded phenomenal growth, with worldwide annual volumes shooting up from 9 to 15 billion cases. Naturally, Zyman is fiercely critical of all marketing effort that doesn't serve to increase sales.

In Zyman's opinion, what ails marketing is the fact that "marketers are looking for love in all the wrong places." Enumerating the problems with marketing as it is practiced in many companies, he says that marketers are not focusing on the outcome of marketing, and are instead focusing on marketing-related activities such as promotions. He also pointed out that the marketing game has changed dramatically, with a new set of values (such as ‘Awareness is irrelevant' and ‘Marketing is an investment') replacing old values. And according to him, "Marketing has changed from internal focus to a consumer focus."

The role of advertising is something Zyman dwelt upon fairly extensively. Debunking the notion that he was opposed to advertising, Zyman clarified that he is not against advertising. "Advertising has a place in marketing, but companies have ignored core marketing principles in most advertising," he said. In his view, the idea that advertising should be entertaining is only half the story - with the ‘selling half' getting sidelined in the process. "In any advertising, the consumer wants to know ‘What is in it for me?' If advertising is only entertaining, consumers will be entertained, but they won't find the advertising informative. Ads often don't sell products," he lamented.

Using statistics to support his argument, Zyman then went on to demonstrate - much to the dismay of many of the creative ad professionals gathered - how advertising that wins awards doesn't always sell products. "Advertisers have lost focus of the key purpose of advertising, which is to inform and differentiate," he feels, putting the onus for this on the desire to entertain. He does, however, feel that the trick is to combine entertainment with product information. To make his point, he cited the ‘mini movie' advertising of BMW, which used a mix of entertainment and product information to communicate with consumers. Zyman also admires the advertising for British Airways as "they were able to differentiate, which is the core job of advertising".

While on advertising, Zyman also observed that advertising is "more than just commercials". He said that packaging, celebrity associations, sponsorships and publicity, among other things, are also advertising. He also drew attention to the fact that everything communicates something about the brand. "So ensure you are relevant and are delivering on the brand promise at all touchpoints," he said.

Creating unique brand experiences is another topic Zyman touched upon, using Starbucks as a case study. In this context, he also dwelt upon the importance of evolving and renovating as a brand. Using pop singer Madonna as an example, he showed how brands have to evolve to stay relevant and contemporary by creating differentiation. © 2003 agencyfaqs!