A call to arms for advertising 📢

Hey 👋

Welcome to Neighbourhood Post issue #29 - easy to implement digital marketing ideas straight through your metaphorical letterbox.

Sorry to break it to you, but every newsletter I send you is an advert.

😱

Didn’t realise? Read on and don’t judge me just yet...

👉 By the way, if you’ve missed previous newsletters you’ll find them here.

📩 And if you’ve been forwarded this email you can subscribe here.

What even is marketing? 🤔

Sometimes I wish I worked in the golden era of advertising.

You know the one; skyscrapers in Manhattan, trilby hats, client dinners.

Whiskies at 9am 🥃

Inspiration at all hours ⚡️🕰️

Storm into a boardroom to deliver the headline that’s been alluding everybody.

Walk out triumphant. 🤴

Don’t worry, it’s not the whisky, cigars and party lifestyle that attracts me.

It’s the approach they had to selling stuff.

We live in a different world now.

As channels multiplied and attention evaporated, advertising morphed into marketing and we lost something.

Take a look at this:

It’s bold, it’s clever and it reads easy.

It breaks every rule in the book, but it sells you a vision. It makes you feel something. You’re ready to roll up your sleeves for the underdog. 💪

I recently saw a quote from the golden era:

I wish we approached marketing the same way.

There’s no such thing as a good ad, only good content that gets read/watched.

People connect with a vision and are prompted by emotion.

Digital is different to print, but the concept still stands 65 years later.

We have to create content that interests people.

We know that deep down, but we talk-the-talk more than we walk-the-walk.

We applaud Apple and Nike’s campaigns, we quote Simon Sinek, we share the John Lewis Christmas ad and we watch the Pespi halftime show at the Superbowl.

As marketers, we recognise what makes great advertising.

So why don’t we do more of it?

Answer: We are drawn to the easy sell.

The quick, lukewarm headlines.

The endless URLs and CTAs.

Why do we care more about hashtags than the craft of good copy?

Consider this a call to arms to the heyday of advertising. 📢

Let’s unite at the skyscraper at 9am, whisky-less but grasping our oat milk flat whites, ready to inject some creativity into our marketing.

And if you need some external perspective and a huge dose of creativity, get in touch and work with us.

Because this is an ad, after all.

See you next week ✌️

What we’re looking at 👀 and listening to 👂

📖 If you love the golden age as much as Dan, get yourself a copy of Ogilvy on Advertising and be inspired by the greatest ads of all time.

📺 As you would expect from a designer, Mark is re-watching Abstract on Netflix - an exploration the art and science of design, with some of the world's greatest designers.

Before you go - we’ll never use these newsletters to directly sell you our services, but we’re always here if you need any expertise or support 👍