Bluesky-Walter Graff Weblog

This was released today:

“Despite $1.78 billion in ad spending, and its hiring of one of the leading ad agencies in the nation, Sprint Nextel continued to bleed customers in the most recent quarter, leading to the resignation today of Gary Forsee as chairman and president-CEO.”

Once again we see a failing ad campaign. Not just an ad campaign, but a 1.78 billion dollar ad campaign. What went wrong? Part of the answer si right in the quote above; “Despite $1.78 billion in ad spending, and its hiring of one of the leading ad agencies in the nation”. Very simply, spending lots of money and using what you consider “one of the leading ad agencies in the nation” can’t revive a brand if you don’t talk at a level people can relate to. To understand that all one needs to do is go back in time and look at one of the Sprint press releases concerning their new ad campaign. It said:

“To help educate customers and prospects by giving them the facts they need, Sprint is launching a new advertising campaign that includes a humorous ad created by Publicis & Hal Riney that uses actual footage from a spaghetti western film and that outlines the differences in Sprint’s mobile broadband network when directly compared to Cingular’s EDGE network. This creative advertisement is just one of many Sprint advertisements designed to outline the facts and communicate the power Sprint provides its customers.” (source:http://www2.sprint.com/mr/news_dtl.do?id=13260)

So does the concept of a spaghetti western catch your eye? Does that tell you a lot about Sprint and how it relates to your life? Does it help you understand how Sprint offers more than other competitors? No you say? You are not alone. While this ad might have been very creative and had that magic ad word in its concept, “humorous”, award winning, funny ads that make you laugh often don’t give you a message that means anything and so creativity trumps usefulness and you walk away laughing but once again, don’t get the message. This is a perfect example of how companies waste billions of dollars on ad campaigns that have little meaning to consumers so little return. If companies would forget the term “leading ad agencies in the nation” and realize that most who are touted as ‘the best’ are nothing more than companies that won lots of awards, they’d understand why most ads don’t work. I could enter five spots today and win an award. Award systems are designed to let you win because you pay to enter, and we want you to come back so you always win something. It’s not far from what happens with carnival booths, except it’s $1.78 billion to play this game.

I’ve said this five billion times so might as well say it again,awards do not mean anything in advertising, just that people have egos and want recognition. But recognition is not ROI. And pouring dollars into ego never get you more than your resume out so you can find a new job. That is unless you work at “the leading ad agencies in the world” who hide behind ‘awards’ and ‘creativity’.

Of course word of mouth is key to this failure too. Word by consumers is that Sprint doesn’t work well and drops calls, that is if you can get a signal. Oh, and did I mention the lousy customer service that many former Sprint customers complain about? No advertising is going to help a poorly run organization. Don’t believe me? I just Googled “Sprint Sucks” and got 1.2 mil. hits. Read some of the stories and sites dedicated to Sprint and the publics perception of their service. Perhaps the agency should have looked into what was on consumers minds instead of giving them spaghetti. Even better, Sprint should have taking that pin they use in their ads and stuck it in their butt for a reality check.