Tonight I was flipping through a cycling magazine and, by two very different ads, I was reminded that before you prepare any sort of advertising you MUST know your audience intimately if you want your ad to be effective. And creative team you hire to design and develop your campaigns should be parlayed this knowledge and understand the wants, needs and culture of your target audience, because let’s face it there is no use missing the mark, or worse patronizing your audience……..
which is exactly what one of the ads I am writing about did.

As I flipped through the mag I came across a simple ad and *BANG* right away it connected with me, it SPOKE (cycling pun not intended) to me, and I tore it right out of the magazine (which actually was the goal/implication of the ad)……

In the centre of the ad was a shape, like that of a bike computer (used to monitor such things as heart rate, cadence, milelage, speed, etc.) with a dotted line with the scissors icon, around it. Inside the shape it read: ENJOY THE RIDE. And just below this it read: PLACE OVER BIKE COMPUTER SCREEN.

For any of us who have trained for and raced any major event know how much we rely on our bike computers to tell us when to push, when to lay off, how much farther, how much longer……..to become a successful racer it really becomes a numbers game. We also know that you can get lost in the numbers and forget what drives you to ride in the first place……..to ENJOY THE RIDE. So this ad was perfect and spoke to all serious cyclists, of any age, gender, discipline of cycling, at almost any level.

On the next page was another ad, and it actually repulsed me. It was an ad for their upcoming Buyers Guide. Now you’d think their goal was to reach and resonate with as many cyclists as the previous ad, if not more because of this once a year feature in their upcoming issue, and maybe it was, however it failed miserably!

The ad was an over exposed photo (making it clear that it was staged) of a woman on a mountain bike. Consequently she could’ve also been a daytime soap opera actress……..you know the ones who wake up in the morning with perfect hair, perfect make up, and not a wrinkle in her jammies. The only thing this (clearly not a cyclist) model had going for her is that she had mountain biker’s arms. For any serious cyclist looking at this ad you could tell that she is barely moving, riding in the wrong position, not wearing the right gear, and the best part, she was wearing white and CLEAN!

My first thought, “What were they thinking??!!” Then, “please don’t antagonize me,” or the rest of your female audience; for that matter your male audience!

Any serious female rider (who would purchase the level of bike or pick up a Buyers Guide) would be feel completely insulted that this is what the advertiser interpreted as a reflection of them. We LIKE to get dirty, riding is NOT a fashion statement where a bust tight jersey and full make up are required, we DON’T ride through fields with mountains in the backgrounds……….we ride in the mountains, love to get covered in mud, and carry tool kits, not make up kits.. And any guy seriously into the sport would rather impale himself with a trail side stick than ride with the pricess displayed in this ad.

So…….
two different ads, two completely different results. Lesson: KNOW WHAT RESONATES WITH YOUR AUDIENCE (so they are compelled, as I was to rip out the ad and post it somewhere inspirational).