{"id":263,"date":"2025-05-01T11:39:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T11:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/?p=263"},"modified":"2026-03-02T03:09:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T03:09:55","slug":"part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/","title":{"rendered":"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PART II of V: 5 Advertising Mistakes Retailers Make<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently I had a meeting with an accountant who does turnarounds. He attempts to save companies that are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy by nursing them back to health.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I asked him whether some company owners put their ego ahead of the survival of their company. He said that was usually his biggest problem. Funny, I said, that is also a huge problem we encounter when we are doing advertising for retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though some can barely speak clearly, retailers take to the airwaves to hock their wares. Do they do it because they think they can deliver the message better than any other form of advertising?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a saying in advertising,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t got anything to say, sing it. If you can\u2019t sing it, get the client to say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do this to cater to the client\u2019s ego. Why, because sometimes the client\u2019s ego is more important than business results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course there are exceptions to this, it isn\u2019t a rule, more like a guideline. I remember when Wendy\u2019s had an advertising problem. We had just hit a home run with the \u201cWhere\u2019s the beef\u201d old lady. Nothing the agency, DFS, in New York could do could test anything near it. The Agency was fired. The Marketing guy at Wendy\u2019s was gone. As a short term fall back, Dave Thomas was recruited to do some promotional commercials. Twenty years later he was still doing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How was he successful? He had personality. He reminded everyone of a favourite uncle, not someone hawking his own wares. He was committed in a non-authorative way. His credibility came from his commitment and ownership. As time went on we learned more about him and got to like him as his public personality developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a far cry from retailers screaming out about some deal that they are offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to build a retail business is to understand your competitive set; understand your business\u2019s advantage and develop intrusive, provocative and clear advertising that communicates that strategy. What agency is going to tell the owner, their client,  to get off the air? That\u2019s the hard part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retailers may know too much about their businesses to understand what is really compelling to their customers.  Glimpses can be deceiving.  We like to speak with customers for a fairer assessment of strengths and weaknesses.  That takes some work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we also believe that a customer saying how great a retailer is provides a much stronger message than the retailer saying it themselves.\u00a0 Think of it.\u00a0 If I tell you how great I am, you are skeptical (although I have no idea why).\u00a0 Whereas if a disinterested third party says I am great, maybe even my wife will believe it…. not a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/a>But for most retailers, getting out there and telling the prospects yourself is not only the lazy, cheap way to do it. It is also one of the weakest. The retailer should ask themselves \u2013 what\u2019s more important, you being recognized or your sales and revenue going up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless the retailer has a particular talent or uniqueness. Stay away! This can only lead to problems. And it is the second common mistake retailers make. There are five or six in Overcome AD-versity.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you learned something from this, check out the other parts in the 5 Advertising Lessons for Retailers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part I – Running Redundant Redundant Advertising<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part III – Retail Media Buying \u2013 Audience vs Spots<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part IV: Ads Filled With Information But No Message<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PART V: Seek Professional Help for Advertising<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PART II of V: 5 Advertising Mistakes Retailers Make Recently I had a meeting with an accountant who does turnarounds. He attempts to save companies that are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy by nursing them back to health. I asked him whether some company owners put their ego ahead of the survival of their\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","category-media","category-retail"],"yoast_head":"\nPART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business? - Calexis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business? - Calexis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PART II of V: 5 Advertising Mistakes Retailers Make Recently I had a meeting with an accountant who does turnarounds. He attempts to save companies that are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy by nursing them back to health. I asked him whether some company owners put their ego ahead of the survival of their\u2026 Read More »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Calexis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T11:39:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T03:09:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/calexis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Part-2-of-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"216\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Barry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Barry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Barry\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/baaed0c86d5c07c91cea51f1b50fd931\"},\"headline\":\"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-01T11:39:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T03:09:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":625,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Part-2-of-5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Advertising\",\"Media\",\"Retail\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/\",\"name\":\"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business? - Calexis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Part-2-of-5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-01T11:39:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T03:09:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/baaed0c86d5c07c91cea51f1b50fd931\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Part-2-of-5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Part-2-of-5.jpg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":216},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/01\\\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Calexis\",\"description\":\"Advertising & Marketing Counsel\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/baaed0c86d5c07c91cea51f1b50fd931\",\"name\":\"Barry\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6578d853629179a2aaae72decc7aa5d1a1e59a2a57e9548692e634c427027e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6578d853629179a2aaae72decc7aa5d1a1e59a2a57e9548692e634c427027e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6578d853629179a2aaae72decc7aa5d1a1e59a2a57e9548692e634c427027e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Barry\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calexis.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/milavskbcalexis-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business? - Calexis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business? - Calexis","og_description":"PART II of V: 5 Advertising Mistakes Retailers Make Recently I had a meeting with an accountant who does turnarounds. He attempts to save companies that are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy by nursing them back to health. I asked him whether some company owners put their ego ahead of the survival of their\u2026 Read More »","og_url":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/","og_site_name":"Calexis","article_published_time":"2025-05-01T11:39:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-02T03:09:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":225,"height":216,"url":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Part-2-of-5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Barry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Barry","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/"},"author":{"name":"Barry","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/#\/schema\/person\/baaed0c86d5c07c91cea51f1b50fd931"},"headline":"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business?","datePublished":"2025-05-01T11:39:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T03:09:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/"},"wordCount":625,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Part-2-of-5.jpg","articleSection":["Advertising","Media","Retail"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/","url":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/","name":"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business? - Calexis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Part-2-of-5.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-01T11:39:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T03:09:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/#\/schema\/person\/baaed0c86d5c07c91cea51f1b50fd931"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Part-2-of-5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Part-2-of-5.jpg","width":225,"height":216},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/part-ii-whats-more-important-your-ego-or-your-business\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PART II: What\u2019s More Important: Your Ego or Your Business?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/","name":"Calexis","description":"Advertising & Marketing Counsel","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/#\/schema\/person\/baaed0c86d5c07c91cea51f1b50fd931","name":"Barry","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6578d853629179a2aaae72decc7aa5d1a1e59a2a57e9548692e634c427027e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6578d853629179a2aaae72decc7aa5d1a1e59a2a57e9548692e634c427027e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6578d853629179a2aaae72decc7aa5d1a1e59a2a57e9548692e634c427027e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Barry"},"url":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/author\/milavskbcalexis-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1232,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions\/1232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calexis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}