I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a company with a problematic product try to “fix” it by running advertisements or by “repositioning” the product. In most cases, the real problem is usually either lousy quality or lousy service, both of which are toxic to brand equity. There is no amount of marketing that can overcome such problems. If your ads pretend the problems don’t exist, you’re making things worse, because the customers know that the problem is there and will simply become vociferous about it. The only way to fix a product problem is to fix the product and then wait until your reputation recovers. Spending money on marketing in order to change a negative perception that’s grounded in reality is always a huge waste of money. Your customers are more aware than you may think!