A 3-minute thought on Advertising before the weekend
'As we go form our weekday business marketer mode and start to think about our non-working normal consumer mode - what do we want to see from brands?'
Great marketing comes not only sitting in the customer’s shoes - but being the customer where possible.
Most people who got into marketing probably did as they were beguiled by cool ads as a kid, and equally were jarred by the crap ones and wanted to make a difference, creatively or not.
I am the first to cringe at the misplaced ones, and whether large companies or small this does not exclude. At the same time I am a massive optimist, and believe that the current state of affairs of too much purpose advertising and lofty pretentious brand films will secede eventually and make way for more human and amusing comms which overall have dominated award wins in the last 30 years.
Needless to say I am all for progression of voice, innovation, inclusivity and I am not advocating for the divisive gags of yesteryear, but human empathy and understanding of the audience are a fundamental communication tenet that should remain unwaivered.
Comms and adverts can be anything the human sees or hears of your brand. Take an email for example. I got one off a bakery the other day, whose app I downloaded once for a freebie. I am indifferent about this brand (which most people are about most brands by the way, people do not need to love you, just trust you), but they did some good puns re starting on a roll etc. The dad-joke aficionados in me was loving it of course, and it did not try to drive sales for their sausage rolls, it just kept them Front Of Mind as a fun brand. Made me think too - I could do more of this with my own clients.
So marketeers. Ask yourself this key question :
What do I love to see as a consumer?
It feels like an obvious question, but the fact I feel the need to mention it is in itself a sign that it is seemingly seldom thought of.
We get so bogged down in our insight led planning, our segments and our short termism of digital metrics - we probably forget about the real purpose of promotion, to win the buyers’ hearts and minds.
I am consulting with an agency and their alcohol client at the moment, and realised that the persona they have for one of their booze brands was different to how I saw them. I like them for a reason and being a 35+ male is not what they envisaged either. I have fed that back and it is now food for thought for them to address a new 35+ male audience!
How do you want your buyer to feel? What message are you giving off? Are you making their lives better with your product - or at least your message?
Are you being authentic. You don’t have to crack jokes if you are a luxury car brand nor be serious if you are selling a trip to a theme park, but be consistent and relatable to the mindset of the person buying from you.
That is it, just a quick Friday thought as you head into the weekend. check those ads out in your Saturday morning paper, your TV tonight or on your inbox you scroll through when you get up tomorrow - they may just help you be better communicators.
SA
PS. I hope you are getting a semblance of value out of this. If so, and you think any other marketeer or business owner would, feel free to share/forward this to them and encourage them to subscribe. Also, follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or my company page. Thanks!