Forget the feel-good factor, show him the money

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Sergio Zyman rides on his name as former chief marketing officer at Coca-Cola to ravage the advertising industry in his latest book, The End of Advertising as We Know It.

He's done it before, of course, in The End of Marketing as We Know It, and the titles convey something of his self-promotion technique.

The book is littered with self-congratulatory references usually beginning with "when I was at Coca-Cola ... ", which is fair enough, as he oversaw annual sales grow from nine billion to 15 billion cases.

Despite that background - and Time magazine naming him one of the three greatest pitchmen of the 20th century - the ego-laden comments grow tiring.

But get beyond the puffery, and the book is a practical read.

Advertising, in Zyman speak, is not art - it's science. The one rule: advertising must sell.

That attitude is reasonably healthy in New Zealand, where the Effies awards, which celebrate effectiveness, are increasing in kudos over the Axis awards, which celebrate creativity.

However, Zyman's advice for advertising (read: sales) success will surely be useful. A marketing budget is invested with an advertising agency and, like any investment, should bring a return.

Zyman compares himself to the kid who points out the emperor has no clothes.

"I guess I'm that kid, shouting out that advertisers are being stripped bare by ad agencies whose ads aren't doing what they are supposed to do: sell more stuff to more people, for more money."

Sound obvious? According to Zyman, it's been forgotten. "Instead of focusing on their clients' consumers, ad agencies and advertising executives at companies fell in love with themselves."

Zyman lashes out at various myths, such as that brand awareness will equal sales, and that all publicity is good publicity.

He targets such advertising campaigns as Budweiser's "Wassup" commercials, that bred copycat greetings and won a bunch of advertising awards in 2000 - while sales dropped by 8.3 per cent.

And Apple's "Think Different" campaign, which won three major awards in 1998 - but preceded a drop in the company's revenues that lasted three quarters in a row.

As for sponsorship, "stadium names and signage are essentially wallpaper to consumers. They barely notice them at all."

Sponsorship, he suggests, is usually arranged by someone who wants free tickets.

And pay public relations people only on results. "Then you're guaranteeing yourself a much better performance."

Brands that are singled out for praise include the Cup-a-Soup: "The name in itself," says Zyman, "communicates everything about the product without having to say more."

As he signs off the tome based largely on industry bashing, Zyman manages to squeezes in a final slap on his own back.

"I'm the guy," he says, "with the secret formula."

* The End of Advertising as We Know It is on sale in bookshops from mid-November.