On Any Given Day You Run An Ad
The Odds Are Against You

Generally, advertising is thought to be “retail” if it delivers a short-term benefit. A sale, for instance. “Institutional” if it is designed to establish a long-term position.

According to traditional thinking, these two objectives are incompatible within any single ad. And here’s the rub. Advertisers who depend on short-term sale messages to drive their advertising have only one hope: that they will engage customers at the very moment those customers are thinking about buying. People who are simply waiting for the right ad with the right offer. It's easy to demonstrate why this approach is not effective.

Consider that most people buy a new car every three years. That’s one day out of 1,000 they'll be receptive to a short-term sale message. The other 999 days, they’re not interested, so they ignore the ad. And the advertiser's money is wasted. What's more discouraging, consumers buy new washing machines, new lawn mowers, or change banks even less frequently. So in the case of our new car customer, the probability that his or her “purchase window” will coincide with an advertiser’s short-term sale message is one out of 1,000, at best.

At Weitzman, we have a name for the other 999 people who won’t respond to that sale ad. We call them customers for the future. Which brings us to our view of effective advertising.

Successful ads must engage the far greater number of people who aren’t looking to buy. Because these other 999 people are prospective customers who will buy. And will choose to buy from the advertiser who establishes himself or herself with a meaningful, memorable, long-term position.

So, we approach each advertising assignment with a twofold purpose: to communicate a compelling short-term benefit in addition to a strategic long-term position. An ad that doesn’t address both opportunities is half an ad. Combining these two objectives in a single campaign is not just a theory. It’s a practical interpretation of advertising. If you’re not a retailer, we can think of at least 999 reasons why you should advertise like one.

Weitzman: An ad agency that works.