At work I get at least 2-3 people a week trying to sell me banner ads, promoted ads, ads in online news, sponsored ads etc, etc.

I had a long conversation with a salesman today about what it will do for the trust our customers have in our brand at work, how we might be seen as desperate to have a “shout campaign” with no clear target.
The salesman thought I was crazy. We hung up after a good half hour conversation, then he apparently discussed this with a colleague on his end who reminded him that we didn’t have to put the name of our business in the ad.

“Great, so we grab their attention with something catchy, THEN reveal that it’s a respectable brand behind the “trick ad” that we fooled them into clicking on.” I replied, but they, of course see it differently.

Sigh..