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June 3, 2007
The Attack of the Killer Ad
This is not AdRants and it is not my normal posting to be critiqueing ads. But every so often, I see an ad that reminds of everything wrong a company can do with its B2B ad budget. This ad from Kyocera caught my attention in just that way.
(Click image to view larger size)
I assume, the concept was awareness, and BusinessWeek (where this ad was running)certainly has reach. But, is "color" really a value proposition for placing an ad that costs tens of thousands of dollars? I assume the point was to let people know that Kyocera is in the color game but the very soft copy does not make a bold statement -- and there are NO differentiators versus competition. The art direction is out-of-control. The Web site listing is for the Home Page -- there is no campaign-specific landing page to quickly get a reader to a payoff. Finally, the placement: BusinessWeek. Many ads in BusinessWeek are "investor-oriented. But for all that money, this is clearly not an investor ad, yet it has a weak call to action.
To be effective, B2B ads need to be clear, express a strong value proposition, explain the simple benefit for the customer, preferably have a strong call to action, and must run in media that are demographically correct. This ad misses the mark on many levels and is a great case study for any company working on ads for B2B media...a study in what not to do.
Posted by jcioban at June 3, 2007 8:15 PM
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