Over the past few weeks I kept seeing bad news on Citi. 53K layoffs, bad loans, stock crashing, and then of course a Government bailout. Citi is a TOXIC place and of course the marketing geniuses knew this as well as their ad agencies. That didn't stop them from running a full page ad in today's Wall Street Journal which talked about providing security and securing the future. That ad ran right on the other side of the article about We The People bailing out Citi.
Now before the print zombies come after me, let me write first that yes I get that this ad was made days ago and that it is hard to pull print media at the 11th hour. HOWEVER, THAT'S WHY PRINT ADVERTISING IS THE WORST FORM OF ADVERTISING THAT YOU CAN (NOW) SPEND TAX DOLLARS ON.
What did that full page ad cost you? $50K? Waste of dollars. How many people saw that ad today? You HAVE NO IDEA because you can't track print ads. Subscriber information? B.S. Heck if you are still delusional and believe subscriber numbers you still have no idea how many people saw the ad. There isn't a call to action on the ad so how are you even measuring it? Some B.S. branding study? Perhaps GoogleTrends or some site side measurement service? That is all completely useless at this point. Maybe you are relying on some useless survey on the site.
Look if you are going to use my money to bail yourself out, stop WASTING IT ON USELESS PRINT ADVERTISING. You could have cut that money and saved it or plowed a portion of it into your online ad campaign where you can measure and switch out creative in minutes. I think if you take tax dollars to run your company you should just STOP WASTING IT ON PRINT.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
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