Don’t Buy a Billboard

I don’t know what the November ballot will look like in your city, but in mine it will include a large number of races for the judges in civil and criminal courts. Of course, I know very little about these individuals. But I’m always intrigued (and amused) when a one of the candidates spends money on a billboard. My guess is that they have money in their campaign budget and some well-meaning advisor says, “A lot of people will see a billboard on a busy freeway.” While this is a factual statement, there’s no evidence that these momentary impressions translate into votes. You may think this blog is about advertising or communication, but it’s about much more than that. It’s about an equation: Money + “Expert Advice” = ??? What’s the answer? Disappointment is often on the right side of the equal sign. Just because you have money and a friend with strong opinions does not mean that you should follow their investment recommendation. Think about the last “guaranteed to succeed” program that you invested in. Perhaps it was some sort of advertising campaign that was sure to bring in new people. Or a new system to expand your donor base. You invested (money, leadership capital, volunteer time) in this great idea and ended up with disappointing results. Why does this happen? Sometimes it’s poor execution, but often the problem originates in the “expert advice.” That expert may be an outsider who is peddling a particular solution. But often it’s an insider who means well but simply doesn’t understand your specific context. In either case, you may be stuck with an idea that goes awry. A highly successful idea in one context may be a complete failure in another. Billboards may work for some kinds of advertising, but I don’t think they’ll win any judicial elections. So think twice before you buy that “can’t miss” billboard. (Note: Some may find it ironic for a consultant to critique “expert advice,” but this is the very reason that I avoid cookie cutter solutions for any project.) It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>