Is advertising clubbed with a philanthropic tone justified ? It has been proven that a consumer responds better to a philanthropic advertisement as compared to a direct sales pitch. But isn't it somewhere misguiding the consumer ?Ultimately a company wants a sale, so it dresses as a sage and comes to you with its product. Its like Baba Ramdev endorsing a pharma company. Although I have my doubts in the Baba himself. Sadly this form of communication is being endorsed by Adage. Peter Daboll is CEO of Ace Metrix wrote in AdAge
Philanthropic ads for major brands continue to show strong advertising value. Consumers respond better to a message about what companies are doing for them, instead of a straight sales pitch.
Since Sage pretending to help you is being marketed with the ultimate goal of a sale, the ad is simply a conniving Sage. And our consumers are responding well, infact better than those who bluntly display their value proposition. This form of advertising is quite similar to the long promises of politicians. Once they get the vote, promises will take care of themselves. It should not take long before the truth of Sage is uncovered. Well, but then the figures would be there, the manager promoted and living a life of luxury. The poor long term investor will pay.