As a creative director in radio for about 12 years, I constantly railed against bad automotive advertising. As a marketing and advertising professional, I found it embarrassing. As a consumer, I found it insulting. As a regular guy, I found it annoying. One of my all-time favorite advertising quotes comes from Hugh MacLeod, who once said, “If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they’d punch you in the face.” But this ear poison has taught me some valuable lessons about marketing content and strategy, and motivated me to do better. Here are five of those lessons.
