Advertising doesn't work: the world's ad industry gathers in Cannes this month to honour their work. But, according to marketing guru Sergio Zyman, most of what will win awards is a waste of time and money.(Excerpt)

SIMPLY PUT, THE GOAL OF advertising is to sell more stuff to more people more often for more money. And back in the beginning it did exactly that. Somewhere along the line, though, something went terribly wrong. Instead of focusing on their clients' consumers, ad agencies and advertising executives at companies fell in love with themselves. And instead of trying to help their clients increase sales, they hid behind their creativity, shrouding themselves in mystery and concentrating on coming up with award-winning (or simply spectacular) ads that end up more as works of art than works of communication.

This whole thing reminds me of a story I used to read to my kids when they were little: The Emperor's New Clothes. You know the story, right? Well guess what? The same exact thing has been going on in the advertising industry for decades. Ad agencies and ad execs lure companies in with promises that they'll come up with the best ad campaigns anyone's ever seen. They collect big fees, and whenever anyone questions what they do, these "creatives" act offended and basically say the same thing that the emperor's con men did: "Advertising is an art and only artists and creative people get it. Stupid people won't be able to understand what we do." And just like the emperor's advisors, the clients don't want to admit that they're ignorant. So they keep sending money and the ad agencies (including in-house ad departments) keep working on some mysterious thing behind closed doors.

Toward the end of the story, the king gives a big bonus to the fake tailors, puts on his nonexistent new suit, and heads a procession through town to show it off. In much the same way, ad…