[BC] Commercial creativity....

[Steve Ordinetz]

> From: jpotter at jpotter.com
>
> Rob: That's called 'institutional advertising' in the biz. Many corporations with more money than tax deductions did it decades ago. Mobil oil and GE come to mind, and many more. But 'feel good' ads don't generate revenue directly. Brand loyalty went out the window when the big box stores appeared on the landscape. Increasingly profit-conscious boards of directors and execs with golden parachutes want results for their ad dollars, not hoped-for brand loyalty. The big name NYC ad agencies made $gazillions on institutional ads. Now they have to produce ads that actually sell products the earn their keep.

I don't know about that, there seem to be plenty of (at least tv) ads that exist solely to keep the brand name "out there".  One example that immediately comes to mind is most Apple ads, most recently the "you're more powerful than you think" ones for one of their I-gadgets...the ads themselves make little or no sense.  I would put most car ads in that category too...has anyone gone out and bought a Toyota mini-van because the muppets sang some mostly indecipherable lyrics about the car being boring?