My son and I recently have been talking about the value of advertising. Obviously, there is some importance, like trying to get more exposure for your blog or small business. However, when it comes to large corporations and their huge advertising budgets, I think it is overrated. We already have name recognition, as well as some feeling about the company overall. I do sometimes enjoy ads, but rarely does an ad affect whether I want to buy their product or not. My son disagrees with me, but then he is of a generation more targeted by ads than mine has been.
Naturally, when I came across this statement in Two Billion Cars by Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it.
Detroit, obsessed with the supposed power of advertising, was stunned to see this strange-looking car [Prius] find such market enthusiasm.
The Prius received very little advertising in the US. Not just little advertising – my family wanted to test drive one, and the dealer did not have one on the lot. The salesman said they were not promoting them, because they were afraid of losing money on them. We did eventually try one despite the lack of promotion. Our only problem was the size. It doesn’t fit a family of five.
