The Risk Of Insult Is The Price of Clarity

This is part one of my parting thoughts as I leave one university to join another.

In advertising, if you say anything meaningful you will undoubtedly offend someone. For example, a women’s college that advertises “Women First” will attract students who value such a proposition and detract or offend students who don’t.  But as David Olgilvie said, “The goal of advertising is not to be liked–it is to sell products.” That’s not to say that advertising should ever intentionally offend people. But it is to say that if you stand for something that matters to people, there will be those who don’t like it.

The idea of not being liked by some people is what scares university leaders away from making ads that resonate with their customers. And it’s what keeps them producing mediocre ads. These ads then become benign and ineffective, and soon they give up and say the ads “aren’t worth the money because they don’t produce results.”

I’m happy to say that my university has done a good job of allowing its marketing deparment to regularly offend some people. And they have been rewarded handsomely for it. Enrollment is up 50 percent over the past 10 years and applications are up 12.2 percent this fall even though high school grad rates in our state are down from last year (and, no, we don’t use the universal application or waive online application fees). A large part of our success over the years can be attributed to a clear and compelling message that isn’t softened because it might offend someone.

The title of this entry comes from Roy H. Williams, the self-described “Wizard of Ads” who said, “The risk of insult is the price of clarity. And it’s a price few are willing to pay.” I’ve found this quote to be good advice and worth passing on.