All too often "creativity" gets in the way of an effective marketing campaign. There's only one goal in marketing: Increasing profit. There are plenty of ads that have won awards, but didn't make a dime for the business that paid for them. What good is creativity that doesn't make any money?

Here's an example: J. G. Wentworth buys structured settlements. If you win a judgment worth $50K per year for 20 years, they will buy it from you for a lump sum so you get the cash now.

Their TV ad hammered home that point. The entire commercial Mr. Wentworth repeatedly telling you to "call J. G. Wentworth to get cash now for your structured settlement." I was home sick in bed for a few days and saw this commercial I don't know how many times. I'll probably never forget the company name or what they do.

But recently I saw a new commercial. My guess is that they got "bored" with the old one. Who cares about boredom as long as the ad works? This new commercial is a mock opera with people in costumes singing about their offerings.

Sure, it's a lot more "creative" than their first ad, but it's a lot less effective. For the life of me I can't remember if I heard the name of the company or their service during all that singing.  The novelty wore off after I saw the ad a few times.

Mark my words: They will bring the old ad back. On a side note, I think they have a great website. There is little I would change about it except to have Mr. Wentworth use the words "cash now" during his brief clip.