Party like it's 1989

Astonishing report in the Herald this morning, concerning everyone’s favourite NZ e-tailer Flying Pig… oops – I mean Ferrit.

Ferrit’s new advertising campaign – by its new agency Consortium – was launched on Sunday, with half its budget allocated for TV.

Seems that while Ferrit’s business model is all about selling online advertising, that’s apparently not the best way to reach consumers. Do they mention this in their sales collateral when pitching to enlarge their miniscule pool of participating retailers?

This is scary news, folks, but not uncommon. Advertising agencies are still clinging to the old ways and pouring money into TV. Why? 1. They don’t understand this whole Interweb-thingy, besides its utility as a source of humorous emails and top-notch porn. 2. They’re scared, because it’s so easy to demonstrate Return On Investment from online campaigns. 3. TV production costs big bucks and leads to hefty commissions. 4. The 80′s were such a groovy period for the industry (ponytails, Concorde, all the blow and Dom you want to know about etc) and they just… can’t… let… go!

Sound familiar? If your agency is stuck in a time warp, we’d love to hear from you!

BTW – the last paragraph in the aforementioned article cracked me up also:

Wogan said more functions were in the pipeline, including the ability to buy on the website. “The biggest competition for us, and for New Zealand retailers, is overseas sites.”

ROFLMAO