Don't insult the intelligence of your target market

Do you shop for your household's groceries? If you do, what do you think about this ad? 

I have nothing against the brand at all or even the messaging of how much a day's vitamin serving costs.

That's fine.
What's not fine is jacking up the retail prices on all the other items with costs per container rather than serving.

The text of the ad reads:
"She went out for pickles. And mint chip. And salt & vinegar chips. (And lemons, don't ask.)

Then she looked at the receipt.
Dill pickles: $4.99
Mint chip ice cream: $6.49
Salt + vinegar chips: $4.29
Lemons: $2.50
Her prenatal for the day: $0.57
The thing doing the most work for her baby was the cheapest thing on the list.
That's Mighty Mini Prenatal + DHA:
19 critical nutrients + 100 mg DHA
One tiny softgel a day, small enough to actually swallow
$17.21 for a full month
No horse pills. No $60 bottle. No half-finished prenatal sitting in the cabinet because you couldn't face it.
Feed the cravings. We've got the rest."

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Now let's look at the inflated price claims in this ad. 

Lemons are typically priced at 50 cents a piece, bringing 2 to $ -- not $2.50, though, again, if we're comparing individual amounts, the individual lemon is cheaper than the individual serving of vitamin.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream is under $5 a pint at Aldi's, $5 even at Dollar General $5.19 at Target.


Vlasic Pickles are typically priced at $3 at a cheaper store like Walmart and $4 at a more expensive store like Walgreens.

Likewise, Lay's potato chips sell for about $1 less per bag than the price shown here.

I've done some ad design for both B2C and B2B ads. One thing I never do in any form of marketing is insult my audience's intelligence. That's why I took issue with this ad that was served to me on FB.

Related: 

Why I passed on an opportunity

Major Marketing Missteps from Adidas, M&M's and Coke

The Introvert Cheat Sheet

Why I passed on an opportunity

Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@brett_jordan

 

Today I turned down an offer for a job.

It wasn't because I didn't have time to do it.
It wasn't because I didn't want to work for the person who asked me.

The reason I declined was that I realized, while I could certainly wing it and not mess up altogether, there are better people out there for the particular goal this person had in mind with a very specific target audience. 

Specifically, the person who contacted me is one of my LinkedIn contacts with whom I've exchanged messages. She said she liked my writing style, which is why she thought of asking me for an editing job.

The problem is that it's to edit a book aimed at tweens. I've certainly read my share of such books in the past, but it's not at all my area of focus. 

I could do what others do and just say, "Sure I'm up for anything from anyone willing to pay me." But I'm burdened by something called integrity that prevents me from doing that.

I know that for her book to be a commercial success, she has to work with an editor who really

know the market well. Editing a book is not just a question of catching errors but of making sure

it will resonate with its target audience.

I don't know the ins and outs of that particular segment of

the population well enough to serve the author as well as she deserves to be served. That's why I declined.

If you think that's not the way to do business, then we will never be on the same page. On the other hand, if you appreciate a marketing consultant that will not betray your trust, then we can talk. 

You can send me a message via the contact form on my site.