Their marketshare had been at 61% in 1963.
By 1966, they had lost 12-points. More than 20% of their share.
Worse, they had a competitor that had momentum. Avis had grown from a 29% share in 1963 to a 36% share in 1966--roughly a 25% gain. Hertz's own forecasts predicted that by 1968, Avis' marketshare would surpass Hertz', 43% to 42%.
I've been making my living in ad agencies for over 40 years. I've seldom had a shittier hand dealt to me than the Hertz scenario. Avis was "cool." Their ads were done by the best agency in the world. Avis pulled off a neat trick. While they were gaining huge amounts of marketshare, they kept their position as the underdog--the one everyone rooted for.
It was gauche in those days to NOT rent from Avis.
Yesterday I wrote a post about believing in the power of what we can do: the power of the power of advertising.
I used an old Hertz commercial to help illustrate my point.
My point was that step one in doing great advertising--business-results-impacting advertising--is to believe that you can do such advertising and that such advertising can make a palpable difference in the fates and fortunes of clients (and agencies.)
The Hertz advertising above, I'd argue, is not, in the parlance of today, very creative. There's not a joke, a pun, a bit of popular culture, a celebrity or a design fillip to be seen.
Just facts.
There were no planners at Carl Ally (Hertz's agency) when I was there in the 1990s. There were certainly none during its glory years from roughly 1962-1985.
But someone said, and many believed, "let's look at the product. Let's look at the facts. Let's look at what makes Hertz actually better. And lets write and art-direct the shit out of that."
Let's believe, in a sense, David Ogilvy's gendered line, "The consumer isn't a moron; she's your wife."
In other words, if you can show that your product is superior, let's assume most people will choose superiority.
Facts, attitude, bluntness and a brilliant icon (the #1 finger) reversed the momentum for Hertz and Avis.
That's what advertising can do.
Ah, but I hear you say, Hertz had it easy. Their product was better.
No, not really.
They were just bigger.
They turned that into a better.
I'm not sure marketers think like this anymore.
To the detriment of their success, their brands, and their agencies. And their careers.
So, every ad looks the same. Sounds the same. A tale of sound and fury, told by an idiot, signifying nothing.
That's us.
We make an excuse not to work to find something interesting. We talk about story telling, but we forget to tell stories. Or to make them real. Or to base them on facts, humanity and feeling.
Nothing new here either. In fact, old. Imagine being given a brief that said "Hovis bread has wheat germ." Well, bust my buttons.
We forget that before you sell a product, you have to believe in that product. No really, believe in it.
Believe in. Live it. Breathe it. Try it. Buy it. Become an ambassador for it.
Not saying, "no one cares." Or, "no one reads." Or, "they're all the same." "Or, we'll use data." Or AI. Or programmatic. Or social. Or bots.
When you raise kids in the city you have to use advertising.
You have to somehow, against hordes of bribing investment bankers, get your kids into private schools.
They have the money to donate wings and gymnasia.
You have to advertise.
There are many more kids than spaces. The competition is fiercer than anything you'd face on Wall Street. And the stakes are higher.
They're about your kid. Giving your kid a chance to make it.
I would never in a trillion times a trillion years say any of the things people say about the brands they work for about my own children.
I'd never say, "they're parity kids--they're no better than anyone else's." Or, "no one cares." Or, "the only thing I can do is make my daughter a part of popular culture." (Whatever in god's name that means.
No.
I'd dig and find a way to express how great they are.
How fun, smart, different and energetic.
You have to believe.
In kids. In ads.
Nothing works if you don't.
Every one of these ads was done by the same agency that did the Hertz work above. Every one of these ads was created based on belief that the brands involved had something important to say. Not just a clever way to dress up nothing. Or a phony smile. Or a triple-play bundle. Or a summer sale-a-bration.
Every one of these ads are better than anything running today.
And would work today.
If anyone believed today.
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