There is a story told about "The Pharaoh and The
Physician" that bears recounting. A Pharaoh was very sick, and his chief of staff
summoned the most reputedmedical practitioner in the kingdom. Having diagnosed the
problem, the Physician opened his little satchel and took out a bottle of green pills,
recommending the Pharaoh take them three times a day for 3 months, after which the
Physician would review his condition. But the sick Pharaoh glancing down from his high bed
spied a couple of other bottles of medicine in the physician's open bag.
"What's those?" he croaked.
"Those are for something else, your excellency" replied the physician
politely."
Can I have the pink ones, rather than the green? I hate green.
"Won't work in your case" replied the doctor, patiently."Then can I have
those yellow tablets?"
"I wouldn't prescribe those, your excellency""
But I hate green pills, the Pharoh pleaded""
Take it, and I swear on my life you'll get well your excellency"
"Could I ...then ..er..have the green and pink capsules?" goes the Pharoh.
"Definitely, not your excellency," said the physician firmly.
"I insist I have them", the Pharoh demands, "I make
the laws of this land. You should be thankful, you have such a thing as a medical
practice, because of me".
"Certainly your excellency, but those capsules are no good for
you"
"Silence" snaps the sick Pharaoh, "Give them to me -
I know what's best."
So, the story goes, the Physician hangs his head and departs. Three
nights later the kingdom is rudely woken up to the news of the Pharaoh's death. The new
Pharaoh immediately ordered an inquiry and they buried the dead Pharaoh with the live
Physician.
How many times have you (the Pharaoh) asked the agency (the
Physician) what to write on the prescription pad?
Getting back to our Volkswagen example, you'll never find a client's
fingerprints on the "Think Small" advertisement, or on
the quality |
control ad that simply stated "Lemon"
in its headline. I bet there would have been more people at the client's office who
thought it was far too negative. According to the old paradigm of advertising, you get so
accustomed to calling a spade an earth-extracting appliance, that you tend to ignore the
possiblilty that headlines set to 48-point (and factories shot through soft-focus filters)
may not wow your customer.
In today's cluttered media environment, it certainly won't stand
out. Unless it's invested with an idea. A consumer-oriented idea. Like Lemon. Text-book
apologists on advertising would have no doubt asked : where's the promise in the headline?
The promise was not there - it was in the picture of the car that,
try as you might, you would never spot a dent in. If Volkswagen could have spotted the
flaw, they must be pretty serious about quality control.
Aha! Where did that benefit statement come from? Not from the ad. It
came from the target prospect. Without the help of a Pharaoh's fingerprints.
Do this exercise.
Go back to your imperious desk crammed with memos, budget proposals
and marketing plans, and switch back to your role as a marketing person. Feel comfortable
again? Good. Now take a newspaper and pick out the most boring piece of advertising you've
ever seen. Does it look like there's been a Pharaoh behind it? Does the proposition look
like something you could have approved? If for some reason you have a better idea of how
to make that piece of communication less boring and more creative, you're probably in the
wrong job. No, don't apply for a position in advertising. Just bring that 'Creativity' to
that next client meeting.
Advertising people need more inspired clients like you. |
