I had a short panel discussion at the ARF’s re:think conference on the gap between marketers and agencies.
This being a research conference, I expected questions regarding research methodology. Fair enough. The research clearly got some audience members feeling defensive – one exchange went like this:
Audience member: "What’s the purpose of advertising?"
Me: "Is this a trick question?"
Audience member: "No."
Me: "To drive sales."
Audience member: "How do you define sales?"
Me: "Is that a trick question?"
Audience member: "No. The purpose of advertising isn’t to drive sales."
This is what’s wrong with advertising today. More people need to be aware that they’re part of a business.