Playin' It Safe
In the ad game, I always say you gotta know your target audience. We handle the Springfield Symphony, and we placed our own ad in their program for the season. In sizing up what creative to run, we kicked around who the Symphony attendees are. They’re older, more upscale, well-educated, and probably on the conservative side. So we did our usual brainstorming—and here’s what we ran.
It reminded me of an ad/poster we developed for Blessed Sacrament School. They were selling a calendar to raise money for the school. I went to Blessed Sacrament, and so did my two sons, Joe and Gainer, so we were serious about getting this right. You know, the ad couldn’t be irreverent. It needed to be responsible. And in this case, you’re representing the Almighty, right? So here’s what we showed the nun who was the principal. She loved it. But when she showed it to the Sister Superior of the order, she said, “If you run it, I’ll throw you out of the order.”
Another ad we did for Sacred Heart in Springfield appears in the church bulletin handed out at every Mass. This church has really high attendance, probably because of the popularity of Father George Farland. The ad isn’t very big, but it’s had a big impact.
Anyway, Bucko, it’s like I always say when it comes to advertising: “The riskiest thing you can do is play it safe.” Keep your dukes up.
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