I ain't buyin' it by Joseph Max Lewis

I ain’t buyin it

 Recently my wife received an insurance quote solicitation from the local agent of a major insurance company.  This insurance company broadcasts commercials where the guys are always stupid and the women brilliant. I handle the insurance and finance here at Lewis and Lewis, Inc. and me being me, I scribbled a note on letter. “Sorry, Mr. Lewis buys the insurance in this house, not Mrs. Lewis. According to your television commercials all the guys with your insurance are stupid, so no thanks.” Then I sent it back to him.

 Personally, I don’t buy stuff from people who insult or ignore me.

 The best commercials insult only your competition. However, if one character wittily insults another, always balance your casting for race, gender and age - make sure it’s a guy insulting a guy, woman on woman, black on black, etc. Reason? So you don’t offend anyone. I learned all this in a big Coca-Cola red book by some brilliant hispanic fellow who’s a former Coke marketing executive. The title and author’s name escape me, but the lessons have remained for twenty years. Don’t insult your customers.

 Seems like common sense, at least if you want to sell a lot of Coke. But not everyone cares if you sell a lot of Coke. The author said every company must supervise its marketing and advertising. According to him, advertising agencies were much more interested in winning Cleo awards, showing off to each other or making a “statement,” than in selling your stuff. He used the example of Coke dumping the hugely successful “buy the world a Coke” campaign that was still incredibly effective for something “new.”

 All these lessons were reinforced when, right after reading the book, I watched a television interview of a young female advertising executive. She claimed part of her role as an ad executive was to act as a change agent, promoting modern values and showcasing the diversity of America, yada, yada, yada.

 Well, showcase this. Thanks to his company’s advertising, the insurance guy never had a chance. There’s plenty of insurance companies out there and like I said, I don’t do business with people who insult me.

 So dear business readers, how much money are the “change agents” costing you?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giCmURBT1dg