Recently, I was asked to weigh in on a question similar to this one: How would you recommend businesses be more creative with their advertising and branding when they work in a less “sexy” category, like health care?
This gave me pause. Isn’t that our job?
When we first start out in advertising, we have big dreams of working for a big agency that works with big brands. Everyone wants to work for the provocative companies. The brands that get mentions in the industry rags. The brands that get to let loose.
“Red Bull is so daring,” they say.
“Look at what Nike just did!” they chant.
“Did you see the stunt Coke just pulled? We could never do that,” they lament.
My question is, “Why can’t you?”
Limiting yourself or your advertising efforts because of a preconceived notion about an industry can be harmful.
Instead, look up and out. Let’s take, for example, a local hospital or bank. Look past what your competition is doing down the road. Try looking at the best companies doing the best work. Look at what the Ritz-Carlton does for its guests. Look at how TOMS is engaging with Millennials. Their efforts can help inspire yours, even if the industries are vastly different.
Some industries get a bad rap for being late to the game, often adopting advertising trends much later than others. This lends to the frustration of their marketing teams. Imagine, for example, you lived in the 1960s, and your retail client asked you to create ads for a boring product such as a shoe. Nobody would have imagined that Nike could have done what it did for the industry. Now, go back to your client and inspire them to change theirs.
Nobody wants to produce boring advertising. Smart, interesting, creative and receptive people work in every industry – yes, even the “unsexy” ones. It’s up to you to bring them the ideas that broaden their horizons.