Our philosophy on advertising

Holland Partners feels that advertising is universal. The same ad should be equally effective to teenagers as it is to my grandma (and I should add that Dottie is quite hip for her age).

For example, everyone likes soft drinks, right? So if the TV plays a simple ad of an 18-49 female drinking a carbonated cola, everyone will want this drink: young and old! It’s that easy. (I’d use a specific example of a cola brand here, but no specific brand comes to mind.)

Ads too often complicate what makes their product great. Things in advertisements like “stories,” “editing,” and “fancy lighting” often complicate the message. Just show people the product and let it do the work. Don’t overthink it!

And while people talk about the fads of “the Internets” and “Integrated Major Commericials (IMC)” we know they are just buzzwords. Nothing draws in enormous crowds like a 30 second TV spot on a beloved show such as “M*A*S*H” or the “Texaco Star Theater.”

The bottom line: the key to effective advertising is clear placement of your product in the exact center of the screen. Often with a logo somewhere.

Therefore we at Holland Partners get to the heart of the matter with such probing questions as…

• Where was the bottle of cola?
• Was it in the center of the screen?
• So it was a little to the left? Did that bother you?
• Was the lighting too fancy?
• That logo is nice, right?
• Would this ad seem like a good fit with M*A*S*H?