Advertising Needs To Match The Experience

Brands are built on experience, not advertising and marketing. As much as those of us in the marketing industry would like to believe that good advertising will overcome a mediocre or poor brand experience, it just doesn’t work that way.

There is an old adage, “Nothing will kill a bad product faster than good advertising.” It’s true. All a good ad can do is compel you to try something. However, if you do try a product, service, or place and you end up having a disappointing experience then you are gone, and any future advertising for that product – no matter how good it is – is subject to suspicion and disbelief. That disappointing experience could be at a retail establishment, on a website, at a trade show, with a B2B vendor, or actually using a product or service.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t advertise. It does mean above all you should make sure that you have done everything to make someone’s experience with your product or service (or other brand touchpoints) a memorable one. Then you should craft compelling advertising and marketing messages to let people know what they are missing.

In this age of social media there is no reason to NOT know what people are saying or thinking about your company and products. A book like Groundswell will get you started on ways to use social media to tap into the consciousness and chatter of the marketplace. Of course, listening to what people are saying is only the first step. You still need to distill what they are saying and fashion a plan to design a better brand experience. Research and insight gleaned from marketing data can also help you learn how to improve the customer experience. But social media is the new kid on the block and it provides first hand, real time feedback that is invaluable to management and marketing professionals.

Some companies search for answers first through advertising and marketing. They look for new agencies and new ads that will light the marketing fire. That is good if you have a wonderful product and customer experience, and your advertising isn’t communicating your advantages to the marketplace. However, if the product and experience leave something to be desired, hiring a new marketing firm or launching a new expensive advertising campaign will simply be a Hail Mary pass with little chance for success.

Good marketing always starts with a good customer experience. Check this out for a more thoughts on advertising and experience from David Polinchock, Paul McEnany, and David Armano. Be sure to look at the video on the link from the Museum of Natural History — that’s an experience!

If you can get advertising, marketing and the customer experience all working in synch, you will be on your way to creating substantial brand-building momentum.