Can the media be an impartial assessor?

By Antony Motha

Al Ries, the father of Positioning, wrote: “Marketing is not a battle of products; it’s a battle of perception.” Perceptions are built by communication – and communication is a lot more than what a company says about its products. It’s more about what consumers say.

In a conversation with The Sunday Times FT recently, Jayantha Sittampalam, Managing Director of Cameron Pale & Medina, an ad and communications agency, elaborated on this theme. “The logic is simple,” he said. “Advertising works better if it is believed because then it would be acted upon.” This ‘believability factor’ can be increased by using third party endorsements.

YES
People do not believe advertising but look at the media as good intermediaries who will test products/ services. “If you have a product that is original or different, it should be in the news. This works best with PR,” says Sittampalam, “Advertising should serve as a reaffirmation of your value statement.”

Public relations is better than advertising at building a brand, argued Laura and Al Ries in their 2002 book, ‘The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR.’ The media’s role, therefore, is to make fair assessments. Citing the ‘Top Gear’ programme on BBC, Sittampalam says, “That presenter, James May, can sell cars like this (snaps his fingers)!”

No
Dr Dannielle Blumenthal has held positions at Young & Rubicam's futuristic trend consultancy and served as director of the Institute for Brand Leadership. Writing in brandchannel.com, she offers a counterpoint: “At that time, they were right; advertising had indeed lost credibility while the media still had it.

“But today, one can no longer be so sure,” Dr Blumenthal continues. “In an age when news releases regularly substitute for real news, people have learned to be skeptical about the media’s objectivity.”