Brits always claim to produce the best advertising in the world. Something about our quirky sense of humor and literate consumer base leads to the often-repeated expression that “the ads are the best thing on television.”
Support for this point of view emerged recently from GfK Great Britain’s survey of advertising effectiveness among 16,691 consumers in 14 European countries.
Three-quarters of Brits considered advertising to be good, entertaining and leading to product improvements. Two-thirds believed it was useful for selling products and services. In contrast, Germans were more cynical, with only one-third saying it helps to sell, and one in five feeling the ads were entertaining. On the negative side, 84% of Germans and 89% of Spaniards believed there was too much advertising and that it is boring.
Does this carry over to direct marketing? British agencies have done rather well in international awards, especially the Echoes. But according to David Poole, managing director of U.K. agency DP&A and this year’s European organizer of the Echo Awards judging, “there is good stuff coming out of Europe, especially Italy and Spain. It is about cultural impact. France and Germany tend to be a bit dull.”
The notion that a thriving culture supports strong advertising and marketing is what has long underlined the British claim to be on top of the world. Especially with the current “Cool Britannia” phenomenon, there is plenty of dynamism for creatives and planners to draw on.
But Poole warns of longer-term threats to the U.K. DM industry.
“The [concern] is the marginalization of art in our schools. If kids are giving it up at age 11, that has implications for the future,” he says. It’s not just that creative departments might struggle to find talent-clients may lack the cultural and visual skills to judge a strong piece of work.
As a judge of this year’s Echoes, one of the best pieces, in my opinion, was produced for a Danish office equipment maker-not the most inspiring of subjects. Yet the concept’s quality, the care with which the copy was handled and the attention to detail in the design shone through. Whether it wins out remains to be seen.
The U.K. has benefited from being judged in its native language-it’s hard to get the full effect of a piece in translation. But on the evidence I have seen, consumers across Europe may soon benefit from a higher quality of work than ever.
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