Certainly Not Out to Lunch

Review by Mike Gange

The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR
Al Ries and Laura Ries
Harper Business Books, $37.95, 295 pages

In spite of the thousands of books I have read, and the many book reviews I’ve written, I can only think of a few authors of non-fiction work with whom I would like to pass a whole evening, sitting down and having dinner and a long conversation. Jean Kilbourne, who wrote Deadly Persuasion, would be one, Farai Chideya, author of The Color of Our Future, would be another and Al Ries, who, along with his daughter Laura, wrote The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR, would be a third.

Ms. Kilbourne, I think, would be inflammatory. Ms. Chideya, I hope, would be inspirational. And Mr. Ries, I think, would be invigorating.

If you are going to be a bear, you might as well be a grizzly. So, if you are going to teach about marketing, advertising and branding, you might as well get a marketing expert who is not shy about getting in your face. Still, to be trustworthy, he or she would have to be someone who is going to turn the advertising world on its ear, if need be. Al Ries seems to be that kind of a guy. Ries is one of the world’s best known marketing strategists. Along with his daughter Laura, he is the author of several books, including The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.

As the authors of The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR, they aren’t afraid to name names and take numbers of those companies who have tripped up along the road to brand building. Almost gleefully, they point out stories like these: Volvo has reversed years of successfully marketing itself as a safe, family car only to have that all come undone by bringing out a convertible, sports car; the name Cadillac is almost synonymous with large, heavy cars, so, what might General Motors have been thinking to come out with a small, lightweight car. GM goofed again with the introduction of its electric car, which was brainlessly called "Impact." The only thing missing is the model name, FE or RE which could be either "Front End" or "Rear End."

In the first part of this book, the authors point out how advertising people are rated close in popularity with snake oil salesmen. So, they suggest, why does our culture continue to believe advertising, applauding its creativity but ignoring the fact that so much advertising is ineffective clutter? And, they point out, if advertising people are more excited about the creative end of the ads than about the effectiveness of the content, advertising is not something to be trusted. The Ries’ go on to say that even the advertising executives don’t advertise; they show their successes by filling their offices and lobbies with such P-R as civic endorsements and awards won. 

Part of the charm of this book is the writing style. Irreverent and witty, the Ries’ smoothly build an argument that points out the foibles of too much aggressive marketing and the need for gentler, more subtle P-R. And P-R, to be handled correctly, takes time to develop. Coke, the Ries’ point out, sold only $50 worth of syrup in its first year, and it took 42 years before Coca Cola sold more in bottles than it did as a fountain drink. Part of the value of this book to teachers, media and pop culture scholars, and to business people even considering any kind of ad campaign, is the use of real life, well documented case studies, showing what works and what does not work in advertising.

The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR is something that "bears" picking up and reading again and again. So, come to think of it, maybe one dinner with Al Ries would not be enough.

Mike Gange teaches media studies and journalism at Fredericton High.