When you can watch an advertisement, especially a clever and amusing advertisement and not know what the product or service is, that means the ad agency is targeting the client, not the client's customers.
“that means the ad agency is targeting the client, not the client’s customers. “
Exactly. I can’t tell how many product launches I have been involved with where the corporate wonks sat around the table watching the presentation of their new ad and said, “Awesome! That’s us! Go for it!”, not realizing what they just said was that the advert was an inside information presentation and in no way represented their clients or the product.
One company had an icon in a video ad that only insiders would understand, but the execs all thought it was awesome because the CEO’s wife made a joke at an awards dinner once and that icon represented her joke. That icon in no way was an icon of the company or products and it was a perverted joke in the first place.