See Tom's great post: Style Over Substance.
Businesses often see advertising as the easy way out. They effectively stop thinking, and instead outsource this weird thing called "creativity" to advertising (or branding or design) agencies.
Creative agencies work in a specific subdomain within your business - the one concerned with making your business look/sound/feel great. And many of them do it very well. It is the business directors' job to ensure that advertised promises are (or can be) kept by the business!
All too often, the lack of integrated practice means advertised promises are not kept, or the conveyed feelings are not consistently experienced thorughout the business. No wonder customers feel let down. No wonder things often sound better than they really are.
