Why the advertising industry is broken with Paul Mellor, MD of Mellor&Smith

Paul Mellor is a loud, larger than life character who has a refreshingly honest take on all things advertising. This episode delves into all sorts of issues in the advertising industry and what we need to do to fix things. Expect expletives and extreme opinions, with a smearing of useful marketing and advertising advice.

Show Notes

Paul is the co-founder of ad agency Mellor&Smith and also started the event series #TakeFuckingRisks as a side hustle - which is now one of the biggest creative events in London.

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We covered plenty of ground in this episode!

• Should you specialise or be well rounded
• The state of the advertising industry today
• 89% of ads that people see are forgotten - can you imagine if this was any other industry?
• "As an industry we are fucking terrible at our jobs"
• What do we need to do to fix the industry?
  • First admit there is a problem - although this doesn't serve the industry
  • Having a backbone and standing up to clients
  • Stop being addicted to digital and short termism
  • Stop being fixated on data
  • Make advertising based on what people do rather than what the algorithm says
• Why clients don't trust agencies and what we can do about it
• The public don't trust brands, we need to rebuilt that
• Is the market research and insight industry broken too?
  • Serial focus groupers
  • Get down to the supermarket and see how people actually act
• Why we shouldn't approach B2B differently
  • They are still people, it's just not their money they are spending
  • Any B2B brand using traditional media is going to win
• How do you get clients to take risks?
• Why social media metrics are bullshit
• Is traditional media the most effective
• Is it the fact that the advertising as bad or is traditional media broken?
• Why influencer marketing is a con
• The role of advertising is to get you noticed, not to make sales
• What is "Take Fucking Risks"?
• Why there is a lack of honesty in our industry
• Why we need more trouble makers
• How do you deal with disagreements with clients?
• If you're so good at this, why are you only 11 people?

Links

• Follow Mellor&Smith on Twitter
• Paul's LinkedIn
• Follow me on Twitter

 

 

What is Marketing Mashup?

The weekly marketing and entrepreneurship podcast where I jump into interviews with some of the most interesting people I have met throughout my career. From CMOs and agency founders to social media executives and freelancers, you'll hear their different perspectives on marketing and how to build a brand.