Have you ever read an article that just made you mad?  Maybe this blog has made you mad from time to time. Well, I had one of those experiences reading an article about consumer apathy and how it is changing healthcare Advertising.

The Writer said that “consumer apathy is something rarely talked about by advertising agencies” because it is a “tough subject.” No. We talk about it all the time.  We call it relevancy.

It is the reason advertising agencies spend so much time on brand platforms, audience segmentation, audience research, analytics and targeting.

The writer then made a correlation mistake, saying that ad fatigue and the propensity to ignore advertisements occurs when “they aren’t done well.” No again. Ad fatigue happens with too much frequency, and the tendency to ignore ads has to do with the message disconnect. I’m not going to pay attention to ads that do not pertain to me. When I was in the new car mood, I was watching, clicking and researching about cars. Now that I have my new car, I’m no longer paying attention to the Car Ads. That is relevancy.  The writer also implied that “enjoying” ads had something to do with effectiveness.  The causation research is just not there. Again, I may not enjoy car ads, but they are relevant to me when I’m in the market for cars. The word “sale” would get my attention as well, but I don’t really enjoy car sale ads.  I’d like to see causation research on this topic, not research on which ads people “enjoy.”

Marketing is becoming more and more of a science. Avoidance of ads and sales is nothing new. That’s why messaging is so critical. And, of course, solid research, testing and analytics. 

Okay, I’m no longer mad. I’m sorry you had to endure the rant.