The following excerpt, taken from this week’s Yahoo! Small Business article about JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson’s marketing missteps, made me say “Yes!”:

Messaging alignment. Even though JC Penney’s ads made the company look new and fresh, when a buyer actually walked into the store, they were not greeted with the same brand messaging. This left potential buyers confused–never a good sign, online or offline. As a digital marketer, this reminds me of companies that use a very compelling call-to-action button or online ad, and then when you actually get to the landing page, it’s not at all what you were led there with. Can someone say high bounce rate? And that’s just what JC Penney prospects did in the store, without bags in their hands.

Occasionally as a copywriter I find myself in a position where I write ads for a product or service, only to have those ads point to a web page that doesn’t deliver.

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