Mark Penn eloquently makes the case for negative ads

So I’ll say something unpopular. Negative ads are by and large good for our democracy. And when they are not – when they overreach unfairly, they boomerang and the people who ran them take a well-deserved hit. But when they focus us on something important -like who would make a better commander in chief, who would fix the economy or when they bring up past events that need a real vetting – they do a service. They don’t let politicians off the hook and hold them accountable for their past actions.

Last week I wrote a short piece on a a mentor that impacted me. You’ll see that in print soon.

As I reflected on the piece over the weekend it occured to me that one of the mentors that most impacted me was one of my teachers way back when I had hair. Barbara Morgan. She taught English at Dilworth. I regret not mentioning her in the same sentence as Michael Dell.

One day she made a comment to me in passing that I then sought to apply every day. It went something like, “Lark, you are good. But when you work hard, you are exceptional”.

All around me were much brighter kids – I could see that then. Much brighter. But as soon as I applied that lesson, I started doing as good, or better than them. 

Same is still true to today. Chris’ post got me reflecting on this. He remembers a quote from Vidal Sasson:

“The only place you will find success coming before work is in a dictionary“

Damn Right. Chris’ life seems to have mirrored mine, as he reflects:

During the first 20 years of my career, there is no doubt my star rose faster than many others because I quite simply worked harder than just about anyone else. I certainly was not smarter, so I drove my career forward by underpinning the attributes I did have with bloody hard work. Consistently. Persistently.

Now- in fairness, I went too far for sure, and for many years devoted my life, literally, to work. I’d work most weekends, and brutally long hours during the week. In truth, I loved it. And in truth, I kind of regret it now, as I did miss out on a lot of life; during that 20 year period.

I have some of those same regrets, but the joys far outweigh them. And like Chris, its why I put so much emphasis on productvity and efficiency. Every second counts. Even the seconds you aren’t counting.

If GM thinks Facebook ads don’t payoff, they shouldn’t advertise there. The fact that Ford does says it all really. Different mediums will work differently for different brands – and their respective marketing shops.

For us at CBA, they pay off. If they didn’t we might stop, but we’d also be mindful of the folks that follow and like us, and expect us to participate in their favourite online destination.

The ROI is clear – both in advertising, promotions, and community engagement. In fact, if I had one complaint about Facebook it would be this, at times, it is very, very effective. We have had campaigns we envisaged running for a month sell out in days – reducing the brand reach. But that’s ok.

The reality is that GM Isn’t abandoing facebook. Just advertising.

“Although many will latch onto this news in the next few days as a reason for the skepticism around Facebook’s advertising model to continue, we believe that this proves that Facebook’s power lies in engagement, not display advertising. According to the WSJ report, GM is still spending approximately $30 million on Facebook. They’re not abandoning ship,” Dachis said.  “Engaged users on Facebook – whether they’re on mobile or the browser – will monetize better than throwing mobile or display ads at them.”

My prediction, is that we will see much, much, much more advertising on Facebook. When paired with an analytics platform Facebook will light-up and the skeptics, inlcuding GM, will be back.

You’d have to be ignoring the worlds most powerful social media platform at your peril.