No Excuses for Bad Marketing

Some people are asking me just what “no excuses” marketing is.  So, I thought I’d go ahead and let everyone know.

“No excuses” marketing is marketing that doesn’t leave any room for excuses if it falls on its behind.  To me, marketing should be tracked and measured ruthlessly.  And in the age of the internet it’s never been easier to track your marketing.  

If you don't track or measure the results of your marketing and advertising, you can come up with a ton of excuses.  Hell, you might even see ad agencies get awards for ads that get no results.

Don’t believe me?  Case in point: have you checked out that Six Flags commercial with the dancing old guy?  Six Flags spent $72 million on that campaign.

The result?  

No increase in park attendance.   But I hear the agency that created the ad might get an award for it.  

Go figure.  

This is why I can't stand all that image advertising.  I bet that whoever who created the Six Flags commercial probably made up excuses like "the commercial created 'awareness'” or “it increases brand recognition.”

Phooey!  If your “brand recognition” or “awareness” doesn’t translate into sales, it ain’t worth a darn.  


That’s why I limit my marketing to the type of marketing that can be measured…direct response marketing—which is any type of marketing that asks for a response, such as "pick your phone and call now" or "sign up for this newsletter".  

Some campaigns might fail, but instead of making excuses for why it failed, you figure out what went wrong based on empirical data and don’t repeat the same mistake twice.  

It’s that simple.  So, when you come up with your next marketing plan, don’t your waste time and money on image ads that aren’t going to get you measurable results.  

It’s a waste of money and an excuse waiting to happen.  

In your marketing don’t except excuses…expect results.

To your success,

Carlon Haas