The majority of ad agencies create environments that will supposedly attract certain buyers, and by association, suggest to them that the product or service is attractive enough to consider. This is their contribution to brand-building.

These are the agencies and their tactics whom Al Ries and his daughter, Laura, target in their book, The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR.

Their thesis now resonates with many marketers.

They've experienced, or at least witnessed, the lack of response, and the strain on credibility, most advertising produces.

How often have you scoffed at an advertiser's message?

How frequently have you scratched your head trying to figure out just what the message you just experienced had to do with anything remotely related to the company/product/service being advertised?

And how often have you, an experienced marketer yourself, determined a particular ad campaign was a complete waste of money?

Well, my opinion is that you don't want to throw out the baby with the bath water. Throw out the "creative" but keep the concept of "brand".

I think you want to build a brand. I think you do that by first differentiating it in a meaningful and positive way, and then expressing that platform with words and graphics. Base the brand on internal, core value expressed in terms of benefit to the consumer.

Brand for sales. Brand for referrals. Brand for buzz.

I advocate straight-forward and benefit-oriented communication that consumers can positively and compellingly position in their collective mind's eye.

For me, that's effective branding.

Martin Jelsema