In a previous post I shared my opinion that most advertising by governments absolutely sucks. Here’s an example of what I mean…
I was waiting for a train the other day (on my way back from copywriter Pete Godfrey’s “Master Class 2.0” as it happens) and my eye caught a big display ad. The “headline” (I shudder to call it that!) was…
“Don’t Wait Any Longer. Move To Adelaide”.
And that was pretty much all there was. No bullets or body copy. No real call to action. At the bottom of this huge display ad was a website address plus one of those horrible logos that governments seem to love. The website address had a “biz” suffix so I’m guessing this advertisement was supposed to be aimed at businesses.
My first thought when I saw this ad was “Why?” Even allowing for the fact that I’m a copywriter and marketing consultant (and so “Reason Why” is imprinted in my brain!) I’d suggest that’s going to be the general reaction.
This ad is really horrible. It’s not clear who it’s aimed at. There’s no compelling benefit for the reader. No reason whatsoever why anyone would want to enquire further. In short, a total and utter waste of (taxpayers) money.
This is a classic example, in my opinion, of the advertiser being totally caught up in a “Me, Me, Me” world. It’s all about them. And that’s the reason why most government advertising sucks. Government employees largely live in their own little cocooned world where they are largely insulated from the “real” world.
In this instance, the South Australian government is presumably trying to lure businesses to Adelaide in an attempt to stem the economic decline of the state. Now, Adelaide and South Australia are nice enough places to visit and maybe live, but as a place to do business and make money? Well the fact the SA government is running these ads speaks for itself!
Now, when I’m referring to government advertising, I’m not talking about election campaign advertising. In that situation, the politicians have a serious interest in the outcome. After all, the primary motivation for any politician is to get elected! So, election ads will tend to be more effective (although see David Ogilvy’s comments in “Ogilvy On Advertising” about political advertising!).
There are also some rare examples of good ads run by governments. I saw this recently on the back of a bus…
“Not Registering Your Trainees Could Cost You $4,000. Call 1-800…”
To the point. Clear benefit and what to do if it affects you (maybe would be better if it “called out” more to the audience but it’s pretty clear who this affects and from a “purists” point of view I admire the economy in the writing!). Could question the advertising medium but I guess employers driving along behind the bus will see the message.