Heading off for a video shoot in Shropshire yesterday, I saw a bus with a large T-bar advert on the side for Unwins Seeds that got me so mad I had to blog about it.

Are these guys stupid? Where’s the web address? Where’s the phone number (“National SeedLine” anyone?).

Where's the web address?

(If this image doesn’t load full size, go here for a better view of the advert)

In the middle of a recession, not outlining the ways in which a customer can get hold of you and buy your products directly is utter madness. I can see the meeting in which this campaign was presented to the directors at Unwins. A “creative” from a media agency in London waffling on about how this enhances the Unwins brand (in a way it has, because I’m talking about it!). Brand Schmand. If you are going to spend a lot of money on advertising anything, for God’s sake give your customers the information they need right away to be able to buy your stuff.

Would the addition of “.co.uk” have damaged the “branding” of this advert? I think not.

Even better than that, use unique phone numbers so you can trace exactly what response your advertising investment gets, as I did with this one we did for Topskips.com (click to enlarge):

The skip hire bus

By the way, if you work at Unwins you might want to give me a call – your website is very badly optimised for conversions