The Fine Art of Advertising
BY STEVEN POWELL

As a professional artist who made the decision early in his career to focus on communications mediums, advertising and marketing vehicles, I'd like to address the art of advertising. Is that too pretentious, do you think? Categorizing advertising or direct mail as art forms? Are we getting a little too carried away here? Too full of ourselves?

From the moment we wake we are inundated with visual imagery; billboards, brochures, posters, newspapers, magazines, television, business cards, games, computers, junk mail, web sites, e-mail, sides of buses, post cards; the list goes on and on. Sophisticated computer art and hundreds of high-impact graphics call to us every day.

It's no wonder we, as a society, have hardened ourselves to virtually ignore what we don't wish to see. Unfortunately for the average marketer, this means that bad advertising is a grotesque waste of money and adequate advertising simply becomes lost in the masses. But there are ways to get the most out of your advertising if you keep a few key thoughts in mind.

It is a matter of attitude.
As we glance through a newspaper or magazine how many ads really grab us? How many reach out and force us to notice them? To remember them? To respect them? An effective ad will disrupt casual skimming through hundreds of attention-begging graphics and headlines. It will grab attention by message or visual impact or placement for that split second necessary to implant a brand or call-to-action in our conscious, or subconscious, thoughts. Remember, 'safe' rarely increases sales. At best, it maintains—at worst, it bores. To disturb someone's sense of normalcy is not at all the same thing as to offend them.

It is a matter of presentation.
Here's an experiment to try in your business. Hang a competent, but boring, poster on a prominent wall for 2 weeks. Count the number of comments it receives, if any. Now replace it with something bold and unusual, maybe even a little crazy. Count those comments. Welcome to the art of advertising.

Consider a small retailer with a limited budget whose one print ad in a weekly paper always read, "$10.00 OFF WITH THIS AD." Now, consider her surprise as responses doubled when the same ad was run upside down with the new headline, "What's wrong with this ad?" and the promise, "$10.00 off if you guess right."

It is a matter of message.
A local home builder was putting up a development of townhouses in a glutted market. As you leafed through the real estate section, page after page of developers' ads screamed at you, promising everything from image enhancement to a better sex life. (Really) How could he compete with them? His ad? A hand reaching down from the sky tearing townhouses out of the ground. Tiny people surrounded this spectacle, gawking in disbelief. The headline? “GOING FAST. GRAB IT WHILE YOU CAN!” Guess who sold all of his townhouses.

Then there was the local phone company trying to compete with the large cable providers all claiming that DSL internet was no better than dial-up; slow and inefficient. Is DSL slower than cable? Sure it is. Is it slow as molasses? Of course not. Their message; “TIRED OF BEING FED HALF-TRUTHS BY YOUR CABLE COMPANY?” Sales increased by 30%.

It is a matter of courage.
I'd like to tip my hat to the brave clients through the years who have been willing to try something different. Something that stood them apart. Yes, I conceived and pitched the upside down "What's wrong?" ad, but it was the client who approved it. Yes, that pencil illustration of townhouses torn from the ground was an incredible illustration. But it was the client with the courage to say, "Okay, let's try something different than everybody else.” And, yes, I suggested that the phone company go right for the jugular when it came to cable’s presentation of misleading facts. Still, it was the client who had to take the risk, demonstrate their courage and face down the behemoth monoliths.

Attitude. Presentation. Message. Courage.
Now, that's art.