Ordinary Advertising. And How To Avoid It Like The Plague.

The problem with most advertising isn't that it's bad. The problem is it's ordinary. And while it may be perfectly fine for many things to be ordinary, (after all, most things are), it's not okay for advertising. Because only extraordinary advertising attracts attention, makes a firm connection with its audience and returns a value far in excess of the amount invested in it. So why isn't more advertising extraordinary? It's not because clients don't want it, or because there's a shortage of people who can do it. It's because too few people involved in the selection of advertising have had much training in how to do so. Which is precisely what this book is meant to provide.

The problem with most advertising isn't that it's bad. The problem is it's ordinary. And while it may be perfectly fine for many things to be ordinary, (after all, most things are), it's not okay for advertising. Because only extraordinary advertising attracts enormous attention, makes a firm connection with its audience and returns a value far in excess of the amount invested in it. So why isn't more advertising extraordinary? It's not because clients don't want it, or because there's a shortage of people who can do it. It's because too few people involved in the selection of advertising have had much training in how to do so. Which is precisely what this book is meant to provide. Starting with the basic impediments to extraordinary advertising--like poor listening and even worse research--this book lays out the cardinal principles for getting to better than ordinary advertising. How to get a feel for what your audience wants to hear and know, not what you want to say. The critical role "truth" plays in all extraordinary advertising. And how to develop a strategy that creates an open field for original thinking instead of a box that constrains it. Using many instructive examples, (and more than a few amusing anecdotes), this book covers traditional positioning and how to put it to use, along with a new and highly effective approach the author has dubbed "Zone" marketing. Also included is a revealing look at "integrated marketing" and how disintegrated it largely remains. Some valuable insights into the semiotics of advertising communications, the role of new media, the impact of media killers such as DVRs and the like, and since no book on the subject of advertising would be complete without it, a very scrutinizing examination of that much talked about, but little understood concept: Branding. For anyone involved in the selection of advertising--new media or old--or anyone whose ultimate business success is to some degree, (usually large) driven by communications, this book will provide a straightforward, but highly untextbook-like guide to identifying, championing and understanding extraordinary advertising. Which, at the end of the day (to use a most ordinary, cliched term) is the only kind worth investing in.

Mark Silveira had the good fortune to work with many of the "modern masters" of late 20th and early 21st century advertising. Starting as a copywriter in Portland, OR, he came under the wing of Dan Wieden and Dave Kennedy and worked on some of the earliest Nike advertising. From there he joined Ammirati & Puris during its heyday where he was a lead writer on BMW and BMW motorcycles during the period of those brands' most robust growth. He was also responsible for some highly acclaimed advertising for Club Med and part of the team that established UPS as a genuine rival to FedEx in the overnight delivery business. After that he moved to the legendary Ally & Gargano working under Hall of Fame art director Amil Gargano on Saab, and then on to Scali, McCabe, Sloves, where he took over the creative work for Perdue Farms, trading places with Ed McCabe and Bob Levenson, both Hall of Fame copywriters. In fact, Silveira has followed in the footsteps of no fewer than ten members of the One Club Hall of Fame (while never coming close to gaining admittance himself he's quick to add). However, what he did acquire was a deep understanding of what it takes to identify and nurture extraordinary advertising, along with an uncanny knack for being able to explain the arcane principles that underlie this process to those executives charged with using advertising among other tools to drive the growth of their businesses. Based in Chicago, Silveira now divides his time between acting as a consultant to advertisers and advertising agencies, the occasional speaking engagement, writing and working as a mental health professional, (go figure).