I read several 'music magazines' and I don't recall seeing a PG Music ad in several years. I do occasionally see the ad for Norton Music ad-on styles. This ad is unchanged for maybe 20 years, but as small as it is, it works. It got me to call.
Perhaps this is what the OP saw?
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
just saw the ad in Electronic Musician...and I see what the OP means...the ad has a very dated look, especially compared to the more modern ads in the mag. but I guess I fail to see point of this thread.
if that ad is working for PG (or if they think it is) and they honestly do not see the difference between their ad and the ads around it (Focal, Novation, Spectrasonics, Glyph, Academy of Art University and Williams) I doubt any amount of forum conversation would change that!
I just hope they continue to do well enough to keep delivering updates to this amazing software!!
BTW, Electronic Musician is only $1.99/issue on my tablet so I subscribed tonight! Thanks Scott!
The ad is surprisingly bad. There’s way too much info. It doesn’t make you want to read it. It does the opposite.
It’s almost like looking at a page from a tech file. Let’s face it, no one wants to read a page from a tech manual unless you absolutely have to in order to find some info on how fix something.
The purpose of a one page ad is to get someone to check out your web site. Not try to tell them everything about your product.
PG should hire a professional music advertising company to redo the ads and the web site.
All the praise crowds out the most important info, namely, real instruments low price at entry, and 30 day fund return policy, as well as Realband being a DAW and included free of charge. Maybe just a colour change to highlight the important info and a subtle light blue or green for the unformatted comments. I wouldn't try to copy what is defined as good by the other guys otherwise you go under in the sameness. I wouldn't change the image too much either, maybe just replace the instruments with musicians playing them to emphasise the real tracks. All in all it aint that bad considering that retro is in at the moment. In the ever changing sofware world it's maybe a plus to be old fashioned. Let's face it, most advertising is crap these days so if you stand out by being good it's ok, and if you stand out by being bad, then that's also ok.
Just consider that Gibson haven't changed the ES335 or the Les Paul much and Martin still plugs the DH28 as the basis of their designs, so modern aint everything.
First of all I think OP's post was with good intention.
Second of all, I see Peter Gannon's post as polite, caring and appropriate.
Third of all I really think it comes down to a matter of taste.
Advertising is an art as well as a science, and even the best can't really tell you if an ad will pull or not. That's because different things appeal to different people.
If any one of us knows what will pull the best for any particular audience, he/she should go into the consulting business and make enough money to retire in a month or so.
Obviously, the original ad is to show that users love BIAB. I don't think there is much wrong with it -- but once you see other approaches, then maybe you say "it could be better".
Advertising is an art as well as a science, and even the best can't really tell you if an ad will pull or not. That's because different things appeal to different people.
"(Parenthesis) See Stan Freberg, Comedic Genius, Advertising Executive, Sadly Deceased (Close Parenthesis)".
(Only true fans will get the reference)
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA
))) Obviously, the original ad is to show that users love BIAB.
Correct. It is intended as a simple ad, with a small message. The message is in the center, and it is the small paragraph that tells you what BiaB is. The other message is that customers love it, and it sounds like musicians.
People here who have commented that they thought they were supposed to read the entire background are a surprise to us. But it would be worth us redoing the colors and contrast of the various areas to clarify things.
))) All the praise crowds out the most important info, namely, real instruments low price at entry, and 30 day fund return policy, as well as Realband being a DAW and included free of charge. Maybe just a colour change to highlight the important info and a subtle light blue or green for the unformatted comments.
Good point. Thanks Chris. At previous times, we had a fainter background color, and that worked better. So we can change that.
The purpose of the background quotes are not to be read, but just to be background wallpaper. Lots of ads do that, including modern ones that have used top ad agencies.
Peter, since you are listening here I thought I'd toss out a few suggestions...
- use a word cloud instead of this very old technique of Pagemaker wrapping - never break lines of text across a large graphic in the middle of a page; wrap the text into columns instead - use a LOT more white space (I know we always love to fill our ads but usually less if better) - as you acknowledged, if you are using a ton of text as "wallpaper" then fade it way back - seriously consider upgrading your logo; I know you probably hate to hear it but it looks so very dated with the 3d text and clipart instruments
Overall the ad suffers from a very basic lack of "design" and it can be a challenge to nail down exactly what that means! But if you look at the ads around yours (Focal, Novation, Spectrasonics, Glyph, Academy of Art University and Williams) in just this one issue of Electronic Musician you will notice how much good solid "design" can improve an ad.
I can honestly say the software you have created is the most amazing program I have ever seen! That is not hype/fanboy talk...it is true! But I can also honestly tell you I was very reluctant to initially purchase it because of the impression I got from your marketing materials. The folks here on the forum finally convinced me to go ahead and buy it and now you have a customer for life! But I cannot help but wonder how many potential customers you are missing out on because they see your marketing and never bother to further qualify your products.
I know lots of people, especially hard-core fans, are quick to jump in and make excuses like "it is retro" and "if it ain't broke..." but if I was you I would have to seriously consider whether BIAB is successful because of your image or in spite of it!
Thanks for posting the link to the current ad. I don't read Electronic Musician. Their content has little value to me, as opposed to, say, Sound on Sound, and Recording.
And I did read every quote in that ad when I first saw it, if for no other reason than it includes a glowing comment from me: "Wow, this changes everything!". It's fun, sort of like a picture puzzle!
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Thanks for the helpful info and tips! Much appreciated.
Floyd, that ad looks great! Thanks
For logo redesign, yes I'm all for that, but don't have any leads on good logo designers. Of course we can begin to look for that but if anyone happens to have some leads for us, please let me know.
This is a little off-topic, but does fit in the "marketing" aspect to this thread.
One idea I was thinking of to help promote BiaB would be "video testimonials" that we could put on the main web page (and youtube of course). These could be from customers, who tell their own story of what they are doing in music generally, and how Band-in-a-Box and whatever other programs are helping them with that. It could also help the customer in getting promo for their own projects. Just an idea at this stage, and any feedback is appreciated.
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Here's a small sampling of what XPro Styles PAK 7 has to offer: energetic rock jigs, New Orleans funk, lilting jazz waltzes, fast Celtic punk, uptempo train beats, gritty grunge, intense jazz rock, groovy EDM, soulful R&B, soft singer-songwriter pop, country blues rock, and many more!
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