Bad with Good Marketing is Still Bad

January 23, 2015

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Bad with Good Marketing is Still Bad

Courtesy of Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker

My new article for Fortune Magazine was just published and it’s a look at one of the most important business lessons I’ve ever learned – all the marketing in the world won’t save a bad product from being a bad product. Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way (like everything else that truly matters in life) – I had to endure problems with having a message that didn’t seamlessly connect with what I was actually delivering, and it was a painful morass to work my way out of.

In the end, the only solution was to fix the root of the issue and let the messaging take care of itself.

McDonald’s is a great contemporary example of a company doing the opposite. It won’t work…

During this winter’s NFL playoffs, you’ve undoubtedly witnessed a veritable blanketing of the airwaves by the McDonald’s corporation. After four straight quarters of declining sales and horrific losses of market share to competitors, the restaurant chain’s executives in Oak Brook, Ill. have gone on the offensive with a snazzy new message centered around “love.”

They’ve clearly spared no expense, with commercials during every other break and appearances from some of America’s most beloved characters…