Integrity in Advertising | A New Evolution That Levels The Playing Field

I have been "done" with formal advertising for my wedding planning business division for years.  In fact, I am prepared to do a workshop to help others learn how to keep yourself in business without formal, traditional advertising. It has turned into a such a success  for me, I would like to help others. 10+ years being "traditional advertising-free" and proud.  But that's another BLOG entirely.  

The journey that brought me to loathe traditional and online advertising was a long one.  I, like many wedding businesses when I started out, sunk thousands of dollars in print advertising for top - notch national publications for the first few years of business.  As print advertising started to wane more with the lightning speed of development of internet advertising, I also invested heavily - as I could afford- in major name brand sites.  When I served on retainer to national wedding brand guru Beverly Clark Enterprises for her dot com endeavors, I learned even more about online wedding advertising.  I saw it from both sides and pretty much, became completely trained in how major entities like TheKnot, MyWedding, WeddingWire and more work.

As my wedding planning business continued to grow and as I was also becoming a resource to the industry and advising wedding businesses, inns, resorts and more on where to sink their wedding advertising dollars, I watched a trend emerging for all who invested heavily in advertising:  1)  the online big name Advertising Goliaths were only featuring those who could afford to pay top dollar, so in essence, whomever had the biggest budget was the one at the forefront of exposure to potential clients   2) they were not geographic-specific (if a bride typed in "Santa Barbara, CA Wedding Coordinator", most sites will bring up coordinators from all over California and 3) the "leads" sent most of the time rarely got a response back from the bride when the wedding business responded to the bride's inquiry.  While no entity can guarantee "bookings", even the leads/referrals by the Advertising Goliaths appeared questionable and forced vendors to spend countless hours responding to every inquiry, hoping it may result in a "bite" (booking) with revenue.

Even "Preferred Vendor Lists" at some properties are now "bought" by the vendors who

appear on them.  When a publication approached a luxury resort client of mine and tried to get them to have vendors pay to advertise and then make the resort refer only those vendors who paid to advertise in the publication, I was passionate and explained the ethical dilemma to the GM and sales team who agreed with me and adamantly refused to work with this publication.  While the publication was no doubt annoyed with me for swaying the resort away from them, I will stand behind this decision and fight against future similar campaigns in the future proudly.    Think about it:  those vendors who had been on the Preferred Vendor List of the resort for years, who did an exceptional job and whom the resort wanted to have return over and over again should have priority on this coveted list based on merit and reputation alone.  And what if the long-time , faithful and beloved vendor couldn't afford to pay to be in the new publication?  Are they just suddenly blocked and lose business from what has been a previously mutually-beneficial relationship that took years to build?


Brides are craving transparency more than ever before.  The pendulum is swinging from who can have the biggest presence and budget to advertising with transparency that serves both bride and vendor.  Today's newly-engaged demographic are super savvy and spot inauthenticity a mile away - except for when it comes to wedding planning, when their choices during research are masked by seeing mainly those who can afford to be the loudest.  And we all know that the "loudest" is not always necessarily the best. 

While there are many ways we can combat the challenges of online and traditional advertising to encourage progress, integrity, fairness and evolution, some of those ways may take a bit longer, battling the "Goliaths of Advertising".   Plus, let's be honest, we are all so busy working "in" our business, it can be nearly impossible to work "on" our business, let alone take on a crusade of battling the Advertising Giants who do not necessarily have the best interest of bride or vendor at heart.   That said, a new concept popped up that is a start and one that I predict may one day give the Goliaths of Advertising a run for their money as it continues to grow. Its appeal to both wedding couples and vendors is enormous.

Ladies and gentlemen of the wedding and special events industry, in answer to the cry for equal representation so that the wedding couple can decide based on geographic -specific information and also looking at the same information in each category to compare apples with apples, I give you the next revolution in wedding advertising:   "Choozly". I am a member for life based on their principles and commitment to equal representation to all vendors. I invite you to check it out .  One of the greatest appeals? Once you sign up, your fee (which is nominal) becomes your fee for life.  No unexpected rate changes and all with consistent representation.   Have more questions?  Contact Tad Clark of Choozly and let him know Kerry Lee suggested joining the "Revolution for Wedding Advertising" (insert song "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Miserables" here).
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Engaging Inspiration is a sub-division of event planning company Santa Barbara Wine Country Weddings & Events.  It is training, marketing and social media for the luxury hospitality and event professional designed to sparkle and engage.