Mistakes are what drives things further, but some of them are avoidable. Find out what are Advertising's 10 Commandments

1. OOOPS!advertising’s 10 commandments to
help you avoid mistakes already
made by others

2. ex-copywriter ex-client service ex-brand manager strategic planner

3. MISTAKES
in marcomm
(marketing and communication)

4. creative
strategy
client service
production
brand management
Who makes mistakes?

5. WE’RE ALL IN THIS
TOGETHER
THE TRUTH IS THAT

6. S**T
HAPPENS

7. Every forest
has its rotten tree

9. and that’s a very
very good thing!

10. Ba./Bsc.
in marketing or advertising
ART or SCIENCE ?

12. value
creation
value
communication
value
capture
What can
go wrong?
wrong
products, irrelev
ant features
wrong strategy,
channels,
execution, lies
bad business
model, or just a
myopic one
1 2 3

14. 10
COMMENDMENTS
IN ADVERTISING

15. Campaign: Snicker’s Get Some Nuts
Year: 2007

16. COMMENDMENT NO. 1
Thou shalt not insult
Unless you’ve got the guts to take the heat coming to you.

17. Campaign: Aqua Teen Force Guerilla
Year: 2007

19. COMMENDMENT NO. 2
Thou shalt not disregard the
context
The social context can lift you to the skies or burry you in the ground.

20. Campaign: The NY Times DM
Year: 2011

21. COMMENDMENT NO. 3
Thou shalt not go live before
double-checking
Check it, check it again and than check the checking.

22. Campaign: Walkers Wheatear Forecast
Year: 2010

23. COMMENDMENT NO. 4
Thou shalt not create
situations you can't control
Human nature is far more opportunistic than you may believe.

24. Campaign: PSP Street Smart
Year: 2009

26. COMMENDMENT NO. 5
Thou shalt not be an impostor
If you pretend to be something you’re not, people will catch you red handed.

27. Campaign: KFC Oprah Cupon
Year: 2009

28. COMMENDMENT NO. 6
Thou shalt not promise if you
can't deliver
The fastest way to transform loyal or neutral consumers in haters.

29. Campaign: IE 8 – OMGIGP
Year: 2009

30. COMMENDMENT NO. 7
Thou shalt not forget who
your buyer is
Unless you want to ditch them and go after younger/older/cooler/geeker people.

31. Campaign: Silo Electronics – Banana Promotion
Year: 1986
only 299 "bananas"
for a new stereo

32. COMMENDMENT NO. 8
Thou shalt not leave room for
interpretation
Make sure people understand what you want to say, not what they would like you to say.

33. Campaign: Greenpeace against Kit Kat
Year: 2010

34. COMMENDMENT NO. 9
Thou shalt not pour gas
on the fire
If a situation is bad, make sure you don’t make it worse.

36. Campaign: The New Coke
Year: 1985

37. COMMENDMENT NO. 10
Thou shalt not be a follower
Copy-cats will never be leaders.

38. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has
never tried anything new.”
― Albert Einstein
2 TYPES
OF FAILURE
GOOD
honorable failure is where an
honest attempt at something
new or different has been
tried unsuccessfully and
BAD
incompetent failure where
people fail for lack of effort or
competence in standard
operations

39. MISTAKE
when you do something
wrong, even though you
knew the right way to do it.
FAILURE
when you are trying
something new, and you
don’t know ahead of time
how to make it successful.
vs.

40. Stage 1: Shock and Surprise
Stage 4: Depression
Stage 6: Insights and Change
Stage 5: Acceptance
Stage 3: Anger and Blame
Stage 2: Denial
Credit: Steve Blank

41. "FAIL FAST"
is the buzzword in Silicon Valley

42. Anyone who has never
made a mistake has never
tried anything new.
Albert Einstein

43. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has
never tried anything new.”
― Albert Einstein
ONE
MORE
THING

44. After so many years of investigating
mistakes, and more recently successes
also, it might seem a challenge to keep
these new editions fresh and
interesting.
Examples of good and bad handling of
problems and opportunities are forever
emerging.
But sometimes we bring back an
oldie, and with updating, gain a new
perspective.

45. Marketing wizard Richard
Chapman takes you on a hilarious ride in
this book, which is richly illustrated with
cartoons and reproductions of many
of the actual campaigns used at the
time.
Filled with personal anecdotes spanning
Chapman's remarkable career (he was
present at many now-famous meetings
and events), In Search of Stupidity,
Second Edition examines the best of
the worst marketing ideas and
business decisions in the last 20 years of
the technology industry.

46. This book explains how marketing and
advertising works today! It is based on
insights from analysis of over $1 billion
worth of advertising.
An estimated $112 billion in advertising
spending in the U.S. alone is
wasted, cutting deeply into company
profits.
"What Sticks" uncovers bold new
insights from the largest-ever global
marketing research project among 30
Fortune 200 companies.

47. Get to know those brands that have
made iconic, early stumbles in social
media resulting in consequences well
beyond a loss of a few “friends” or
“followers.”
The blunders chronicled here cost
companies millions, bruised well-
honed corporate reputations and sunk
careers.
There are plenty of mistakes to learn
from here – or at least chuckle at in
disbelief.

49. facebook.com/cuAtelierSapte
anton.gherca@ateliersapte.ro