Tag: advertising

Advertising is Dead

I am fortunate to have three friends who happen to be marketing geniuses.

Shake the tree.

Alex Leonov, a Moscow-based Marketing Director, is one of them. I listened when Alex proclaimed “Advertising is dead,” but I never understood… until now.

You see, I have written reams of nutritional supplement advertising; brochures, pamphlets, print ads and more. But as I build Natural Health Writer dot com, I have little enthusiasm about posting these pieces. I want to ensure your supplement success, and these days, a tri-fold brochure  just isn’t enough.

This is the Natural Product Industry. Consumer education is the key. The more consumers know about a supplement, the more they will buy that supplement. When education reaches critical mass, one-time buyers graduate into lifelong, loyal customers who share their beliefs with their friends.

The Lesson: Choose the vessel that can deliver an education about your supplement. A booklet is deep and thorough. A custom-published magazine provides ongoing education. And supplement web reporting can elevate customer interaction to an exciting new level. Advertising is dead. Long live marketing.

Don’t Stop Believin’

Nutratein Protein Shake Ad
Take your midnight train. You'll get there!

I created this conceptual ad to convey how pushing forward with exercise helps one leave negative emotions behind. The tagline: “Energy For What Will Be.” We presented this concept to an Ad Group that was set in their ways. The concept was met with negative feedback and rejected.

Four years later, I saw the Asics ad on the right in Men’s Health Magazine… and felt sweet vindication. Although a small ad group rejected our concept, Asics had enough belief in a similar concept to invest $186,000 for an ad in the World’s Greatest Magazine.

The Lesson: Don’t stop believin’ in your vision. Think big. The concept that is too “different” for one client is the same concept that will be embraced by a winner.