By Marianne Wathne Johansen

Advertising is like fishing

Our agency name is officially Fat Penguin, and penguins, along with being ice breakers, love fish. So here’s a SCAB dedicated to our intake’s new, funny name. Advertising is actually quite similar to fishing. Let me explain.

First of all, you need the right location. You can’t go fishing by the beach if you want to catch a cod. Similarly, you shouldn’t place an ad in Brixton Station if your target market is rich jewish people.

The second thing is the bait. You need something to get both fish and people to turn their attention to you. And if you don’t have the right bait, you won’t attract the right people. So you probably shouldn’t show Miley Cyrus in an ad aimed at women in their late 40s, or Donald Trump if your target market is people voting for the Labour party.

Also, if you have the wrong hook for the target market, you’re very unlikely to be successful. If you use a tiny hook when trying to catch a massive cod, it may bite, but it’ll definitely fall off pretty quickly. And if you don’t even have a hook, neither fish nor people(’s attention) won’t be caught. The fishing line/ad isn’t enough on its own.

When you’ve finally got them on the hook, you have to start pulling ‘em up. As with advertising, consistency is key. Go too fast, and they’ll fall off. Go slow, and they’ll fall off as well. You have to keep the speed up, and know how fast is too fast and vice versa.

As soon as the fish is above the sea, the differences end. Please do not try gutting your consumers – they won’t be able to buy or use your product if you do.