Out of alignment
Greg Stuart
Recent research of more than $1 billion worth of advertising reveals that 47 percent of campaigns fail before a single dime is spent on media. This would suggest that the industry has improved little since the 1890s, when merchant John Wanamaker declared, “I know half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; I just don't know what half.”
In our book, What Sticks,Rex Briggs and I explain the myriad reasons for advertising's continued ineffectiveness, but the one I believe is most problematic is the misaligned incentive system between agencies and...