What? An Ad That Is Useful?

I'm a great believer that the most effective methods of communication inform the recipient. It should always inform about what the benefits of the product/service are - that could be low price, space to get the whole family in the car or whatever else it may be. Communication that simply gets the name in front of people without communicating benefits can be missing a trick.

However, there is an alternative way of informing to great effect. Some adverts / direct marketing inform people of useful information. An example of this is the latest TV campaign by the RAC. The adverts are very short, but just tell people useful things about cars - e.g. rubbing ordinary vinegar against the blade of a windscreen wiper will clean it. The campaign is also online - read it at http://www.rac.co.uk/web/hints_and_tips?bannerClick=BB244ID423.

The result of this is that the adverts stand out from the crowd. I paid attention to it because it was not just the standard sales pitch "Buy Brand X it's great!" but was useful to me.

Another example of this came to me a few years back. It was an e-mail newsletter from a law firm in London that had the latest updates on marketing law (Data Protection Act etc). It did not attempt to sell me legal services but was just a useful update for me that I enjoyed receiving and I did not delete instantly as I did for many of the others. Osborne Clarke who sent it have a website which is equally useful at http://www.marketinglaw.co.uk/

Being useful is a great differentiator - if what you do is essentially the same as everyone else (as in the RAC and Osborne Clarke) then try to be useful. People will want to hear what you say and so remember your name and what you do.