Advertising Fails
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 9:57PM 
Alright guys I’m sorry I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and today shit really hit the fan and I just can’t take it anymore. This post is all about bad ad sales people.
Company #1
You gave me a free ad in your publication so thank you very much for that. But from the moment you said free everything just went downhill.
Your ad sales director and graphic designer did not know what CMYK meant nor did you know dpi.
Even worse was that you didn’t know what file format the ads should be.
You placed my Chicago focused ad in other cities without informing me.
You resized our ad and messed with our branding.
You invoiced me for a FREE ad and didn’t call me to cancel the invoice even when you found out it was a mistake.
And then today you put my ad on a page with full frontal nudity.
Lastly, when I called you today and asked you to pull my ad from further issues you were not apologetic. FAIL
Company #1 needs to learn to treat their advertising customers better. If ads are your only revenue then please be careful. Getting one ad is great but if you don’t manage that relationship you’ll never have returning customers.
Company #2
You called me last week to talk about possibly advertising in your publication. Here’s where you went wrong.
I am a current advertiser in your publication and have been for the last 4 months.
After I corrected you about our advertising status you decided to try and advise me on how we can improve our ad (thanks but we have an amazingly talented graphic designer for that).
You insisted you stop by the office to talk about more opportunities but if you had actually done your research about our company you would have found out that we are located in Chicago. You however are located in Dallas. FAIL
Company #2 needs to learn to open their computer and do a little research about their prospective advertisers. Don’t try to sell me on something when I’ve already bought what you are selling.
Company #3
You and I were on great terms before today. I was looking forward to our upcoming partnership and I had planned a lot of my budget and marketing around your publication. Today you sent me a letter saying that you are canceling the publication in the New York area. You refunded me my money and that was that.
You never called to tell me that our ad was never going to run. A little heads up would have been nice.
After looking at our banking statements I found out you canceled the Chicago publication as well. Where is my letter for that one?
Both of these publications were supposed to come out 2 months ago. Thank you for taking the time to notify me as soon as you didn’t go to press.
I called to talk to you about our relationship but your offices were closed. FAIL
Company #3 needs to put shame aside and think about their customers. I paid you money to run our ad. Don’t hold on to the money when you know you aren’t going to print.
I’m sorry guys. I had to say all of this. Feel free to comment or feel free to mark as read. If you’d dealt with the people I had to deal with today you’d understand my need to vent.
Reader Comments (8)
I worked in advertising for a weekly publication selling close to $10,000 a week in ad sales because I focused on my client and not on the money.
My peers where making less than I was in sales, and only focused on commission. And that was the problem.
Once you sign the contract, the account executive gets paid and they don't care about your business.
You should get ad horror stories from around the world and write an e-book.
lol.
I'm going to go on and say I'm sorry on behalf even though I had no idea of all that.
So I apologize because that is a mess. I even agree.
THANK YOU. That's what happens when companies hire amateurs to do professional jobs. I've told you how I feel about that shit.
People, if you don't have any experience or background in the industry in which you're working, you need to learn from those who do. You need to take a back seat, study those who are successful and take a lot of time to understand the nuances of the field before you launch into a new career.
I'll stop here before I get SUPER bitchy. Great post!
@elidet reyes I would rather people built a relationship with me. I don't care what industry you are in, relationships do matter. Some ad people I even sent Christmas cards to because they were really great to work with. I wish I looked forward to talking to ad people rather than dread all their calls.
@jamie Nothing is your fault. You are great.
@elle michelle Yes I know exactly how you feel about all that. Remembers, we've had many a conversation over drinks. Thanks for the comment.
clearly, i couldnt agree more on all of these accounts. its your job, you need to know what in the hell you are talking about and if you dont, apologize, get answers and accommodate the client!
among much much more i could say...
nice post!
This is so true. what's worse is that you hear stories like these more then success stories/good experiences in advertising... at least in my case.
nice post!
If I had a dollar for every stupid advertising person I talked to in a 24 hour period, I'd have about $400. I feel your pain.
your post is sad but so true. There are those that know what they are doing but then there's also so many ae's that just totally don't care. Some kids are coming out of college and think just because they have a degree they don't actually have to work now that they have a job. And Chicago is fairly fast paced, you would think you would have better experiences but you should really see how bad outside of a major metropoli.