Advertising and Public Relations

Companies often spend millions of dollars to launch an ad campaign that is useless. In 2008, the CEO of a large beverage company authorized $4,500,000 for an ad campaign. He and his Marketing Manager were outnumbered by eight hyper-enthused, creative people from a well-known advertising agency. The television commercial looked like a high production movie. Egos were sky high. They convinced the CEO that media time should be bought in all markets to hit 90% of the Australian market.

The ad agency won an award for innovation, but the beverage company's market share was flat. The CEO and the Market Manager's unbridled optimism ignored nagging reality.  Generally, most CEOs and Marketing Managers are not trained to test arguments, assumptions, and claims. A good Devil's Advocate would have saved the company millions of dollars, and they would have ended up with a more effective campaign.