While heading back to the train from a new client meeting yesterday, I snapped the photo you see here in Times Square.

Okay, I get it: It’s Advertising Week, and the Barnum gene in me applauds the idea of an ice cream truck in Times Square serving up a menu of “Digital Interactive Services” that include “Marketing Kitchen” and “Digital Foundry” and more.

Then the Cluetrain gene in me makes my teeth grind when I visit the Zemoga site and learn that their “service offerings provide innovative solutions for our Client Partners.”

Then the client gene in me makes me wonder: How much does it cost to have an ice cream truck in Times Square, and do I really want the fees I’m paying to my agency to go to something like this, or would I rather they be spending my dollars on my business?

(All due respect to the folks at Zemoga, by the way. Hey, their CMO started at Marvel, and I’m an old-school comic book guy; rest assured I have nothing against them and no axe to grind. Snapping this photo was the first I heard of them, so I guess from an awareness perspective their tactic was successful with this focus group of one.)

Takeaway for marketers: In this every-penny-matters economy, we have to ask ourselves: Do these sorts of high-profile (and undoubtedly high-cost) tactics really make sense?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways, Rants 'n' Such.