Another Big Dumb Ad

As is sometimes the case, print ads for large corporations end looking lousy. Today Merrill Lynch had a full page ad in the Financial Times. It has a huge photo of a family riding bicycles, along with a small photo of a bull, and small photo of three older people smiling. Below all of that is a subhead and body copy, neatly made to look like a letter. The subhead reads "FUNDING FOUR COLLEGE TUITIONS AT A TIME IS CHALLENGING. FUNDING FOUR COLLEGE TUITIONS DURING THESE TIMES GOES WAY BEYOND CHALLENGING"

The layout and design is good enough, but the message gets lost. The ad is for Wealth Management... but does little to let us know that. What does a photo of a family riding bikes say to us? How does that help position Merrill Lynch in the mind of the consumer? The photo of the bull is a vague hint, but falls far short of saying anything meaningful. The subhead reads more like annoying tongue twister. Its just a mouthful! This ad was most likely a result of the "groupthink" approach that prevails at many large corporations. Things like "steering committees" and "TQM" meetings only drown out individual contributions and lead to tepid results at best.

My solution? Have a large photo of couple in their fifties enjoying themselves on the deck of their beachhouse, or deck of a boat. Ditch the idea of paying for the kids education and focus on the more basic element of being financially comfortable enough to enjoy life. Then have a much shorter subhead like "WEALTH MANAGEMENT FOR CHALLENGING TIMES". On of the smaller pictures would be that of something more family oriented (perhaps the kids here, in a less important position) and we keep the picture of the bull, because that makes sense next to the subhead.