Today, let’s take a step back in time and revisit the days of martini lunches, beehive hairdos, and Lucky Strikes. Picture yourself at an ad agency in 1965, strutting down the hall in a double-breasted, pinstriped suit, going to a meeting with a client. The meeting goes well, but at the end the client leans toward you and asks, “How are you going to show my purpose in your advertising?”
Chances are that you, the modern marketer, would answer this question very differently than Don Draper would have back in 1965. In this post, we’re going to take a quick look back into the history of purpose-driven marketing, checking out some some purpose-driven advertisements from the days of Mad Men to today.
In 1963, David Ogilvy’s “Confessions of an Advertising Man” glamorized and publicized the advertising industry. Television brought forth new opportunities for advertisers to promote products and reach a greater audience than ever before. Meanwhile, idealistic young people protested against the Vietnam War and for Civil Rights while condemning their parents for their materialism. Advertisers were criticized for exaggerated and deceitful practices, and they were portrayed as materialistic, shallow and wasteful.
In turn, advertisers used their clients’ purposes as a way to combat criticism. By taking cues from pop art, music, and popular programs, innovative campaigns like Pepsi’s “Think Young” and “Pepsi Generation” embraced the counterculture and aligned itself with their mission. Eschewing elitism and materialism, advertising focused on truth, humor, and irony to endear consumers to their products.
As advertising matured, mistrust in advertising began to grow–mainly because purpose was clouded beneath deceitful and offensive ads. Minority groups criticized sexist and racist ad campaigns like National Airlines’ “fly me” campaign, which required stewardesses to wear buttons bearing the slogan. Reflecting the impact of feminism was Revlon’s ad for Charlie perfume, which featured a confident, assertive and openly feminist model.
One notable development in the 1970s was government-mandated corrective advertising. For example, Warner-Lambert was forced to spend $10 million to correct a claim that Listerine prevented colds and sore throats. However, this practice waned in the later part of the decade as government deregulation loosened ties on the ad industry.
The general financial and political stability of the 1980s changed the tone of purpose-driven advertising from commenting on social issues to focusing on specific brand values like quality, luxury, and comfort. Instead of trying to make products seem cutting-edge, advertisers focused more on showing that products were reliable and wholesome. In order to combat the inroads foreign companies were making in the US market, automotive and clothing industries connected American-made products with quality in campaign slogans like “GM puts quality on the road” and “at Ford, quality is job one.” This feel-good, positive purpose was even seen in political ads, like Ronald Reagan’s “morning in America” re-election campaign ads.
The technological innovations of the 1990s decentralized and refocused advertising. Instead of focusing solely on reaching a wide audience with their ads through traditional media like TV and print, agencies took advantage of the internet to create targeted, data-driven advertisements that could be customized for different audiences and targeted better than the communications of the past. Integrated marketing communications became the norm: advertising, marketing, and communications all began to work together fluidly, or at least attempted to. Small, creative boutique agencies grew in influence to meet the demand for smaller ad campaigns–including the newly founded Movéo.
The internet and digital technology changed the face of advertising–sometimes literally. CGI allowed ads to become more fantastical, and computer-generated creations like the Coca-Cola polar bears are still used in ad campaigns today. Purpose often took a backseat as agencies explored the frontiers of new media.
The internet boom that began in the 1990s continued and expanded in the next decade. Digital has become central to nearly all marketing strategies, and mobile marketing has become more than just a trend as smartphones have grown more and more common among consumers. The ability to learn more about consumers has made ads more targeted, relevant, and customizable across channels, and at times, less intrusive.
This access to data means that agencies can more carefully discern what causes people care about. Purpose-driven ads are not only commonplace, but they are effective: from Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” highlighting the deceptive Photoshopping tactics in advertising to Obama for America’s “Yes We Can” political ads, marketing in recent years has leveraged purpose to call consumers to action. Even today, “that ASPCA ad”–the one featuring Sarah McLachlan and abandoned pets staring mournfully into the camera–raises millions of dollars for pet shelters.
What will the future of marketing hold? Come back on Friday for our predictions.
(Click here to expand)
