Marketers always want to be the most innovative, most creative, most quick to change, make the most increase in sales… generally, we want the MOST success, however that is measured. Sometimes, we get so caught up in OUR quest for the most, that we forget what most of our CUSTOMERS want or need! Maybe most of the customers like the old way, the old product, the old campaign, the old measure of success. Sometimes customers want what they’ve known for most of their lives. Sometimes, there’s a reason that most of your competitors’ ads look mostly the same, and maybe your most creative ad isn’t what’s needed for the situation.

It’s a hard truth to hear for most marketers, but sometimes good ‘ole Marketing 101 is the best path to take. After all, as I’ve mentioned before, marketing is about people, and the point of marketing is to grow sales profitably. In a recent survey of ads for one of our key magazines, we learned that our ads had a most adverse effect on our readers. They didn’t like our creativity, but much prefer the old style that is prevalent throughout most of the magazine. While I’m glad we were willing to take a step out, this feedback helped me realize that our customers aren’t quite ready to respond to the new style… and that’s ok! My goal is to reach the most customers, with information in the most clear way possible. In light of these findings, I’m going to go back and make our ads look like most customers prefer. That’s the most rational decision, don’t you think?