Why do well known brands continue to advertise? Not only because it works to attract new customers and reminds existing ones about the brand, but it’s also a signal of strength.

Consumers may say they hate advertising, but data from Ad-ology Research and reported by eMarketer shows that many consumers base their perceptions of a company’s strength on how often it advertises.

48% of those surveyed believed that if advertising from a particular bank started to decrease, they perceived the bank to be struggling and more than 10% felt the bank might be out of business soon.

It was a similar case with a scenario of declining advertising from a retailer - a decline in ads from a retailer was perceived to be an indication that the retailer was in trouble.

The moral of the story would appear to be that just because times are tough, it’s not a good reason to cut back on ad budgets and decreasing advertising may be very counter-productive in terms of overall perception of a brand.

We are funny creatures - as much as we deny that advertising is so powerful, it does certainly shape our perceptions. I think that because it works on a subconscious level so much, that lulls people into a false sense of being in control. For me, advertising works on a very conscious level, probably due to working in the industry. I see an ad and ask myself not why the product or service being touted appeals, but why the ad does - what pressure point is it working on.

The results of the survey mentioned above and other similar research also drives home the point that marketers are very powerful people; and as such, have a responsibility to the public to know and observe the line between clever marketing messages and misleading advertising. Lying is easy, clever advertising is hard.

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Lies, damned lies and internet marketing