What is advertising?
This is the question that kept advertising legend Albert Lasker up at night during his first few years working for the Lord & Thomas advertising agency.
Lasker was determined to discover the true meaning of advertising. He focused all of his energy and efforts on creating a workable definition of advertising. He talked to all of his colleagues, clients, and peers about advertising. From Lasker’s standpoint, if he couldn’t define advertising, how could he create it?
Lasker’s efforts appeared to be getting him nowhere. Then it happened.
At 6:00 pm on May 5, 1905 he received the following note:
I am in the saloon downstairs. I can tell you what advertising is. I know you don't know. It will mean much to me to have you know what it is and it will mean much to you. If you wish to know what advertising is, send the word "yes" down by the bell boy. Signed - John E. Kennedy
Lasker, who had been searching for the answer Mr. Kennedy claimed to have, immediately summoned Mr. Kennedy to his office.
Mr. Kennedy, a former Canadian police officer, told Mr. Lasker that he knew what advertising was. Advertising, Kennedy told Lasker, is simply “Salesmanship in print.”
These three words changed the entire face of advertising.
Lasker hired John Kennedy on the spot and soon became the richest advertising man in the world. Lord & Thomas also became the premiere advertising shop in the world. All because Lasker said yes to Mr. Kennedy’s note.
I know what you must be thinking. Mr. Kennedy’s answer seems like such common sense. I couldn’t agree with you more. However, ask yourself if Mr. Kennedy’s answer seem like such common practice.
When you get home tonight, turn on your television, flip open your favorite magazine, or open up a piece of direct mail and tell me if you believe Mr. Kennedy’s words are common practice.
We have learned to dress up our business communications and marketing materials with words like branding, viral marketing, internet marketing, public relations, promotional mix, narrowcasting, word-of-mouth, and Search Engine Optimization.
But in the end, it’s all window dressing and nonsense. We are just salespeople trying to give people a reason to believe what we are saying.
What are we doing when we send out direct mail? Are we branding our firm's name? HECK NO! We are trying to sell people on the reasons they should pick up their check book and buy something from us.
What are we doing when we create a print, radio, or TV advertisement? Are we marketing? I HOPE THE HECK NOT! I hope that we are trying to sell something to somebody.
We get ourselves into trouble when we start imagining that business communications is anything more or anything less than good ole fashioned salesmanship.
As Rosser Reeves, the advertising legend who pioneered the idea of the Unique Selling Proposition, so elegantly stated:
“Imagine you have a business. You’ve built it up through hard work and effort. It’s worth $1.0 million to you.
Suddenly the sales start going down. Your livelihood is in jeopardy. Your wife and family’s livelihood are in jeopardy. What do you want me from me? Fine writing? Or would you like to see the g@$dam sales curve stop going down and start going up?”
When a client hires a public relations firm, advertising shop, marketing company, or a commercial real estate broker, they may talk about brand management, public relations, marketing campaigns, and image, but what they are really saying is “help me move the sales curve up.”
Timeless Lesson: Sell or else.
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