Tell me something I don’t know
If I was in a very specific pub quiz and I was asked to describe advertising in a sentence, I’d say it was a an exciting way to make people give a shit. At its very core, it’s a thing that gets people’s attention and makes them want to engage with another thing. I’d then win a free round at the bar, the respect of my team maters and a hangover the next day.
But so often that very simple thing is massively overcomplicated and turned into a steaming pile of jargon-filled turd. This blog will explore why, and how you can avoid making the same stinky mistakes.
Problem 1: We’re all trying to sell the same thing
There are only really two things we ever try to sell: stuff, and the financing to help people afford that stuff. Because so many products out there are so similar, it can be easy to fall into the trap of advertising them the same way. Take a look at any car advert: you’ll see it driving on a nice road, you’ll see the driver smiling as they engage with the infotainment screen, you’ll see it pull up at home and look pretty. You won’t be able to name the brand of the car.
It happens because it’s safe. There’s no risk attached in showing a car on a nice stretch of road, meaning the creatives don’t risk their idea being rejected, the agency don’t risk the client hating them, and the client doesn’t risk their boss thinking they’re stupid. Safety wins, boredom drives on.
How do you fix it?
I can only remember two car adverts, one for Honda and one for Skoda. ‘Hate something, change something’ plays on a constant loop in my head, (Make something bettteeerrrr!) while Skoda’s car cake made my diabetic heart beat with joy. Both ads took something about their product and pushed it to the limit, creating playful, imaginative ideas that still look fantastic now.
Admittedly, those ‘cleaner’ diesel engines Honda were singing about probably weren’t very clean at all, but it goes to show that even global warming can be enjoyable when the idea is good.
Find the nugget of something different in your product and run with it. It might not be a nugget that’s totally unique to you, but it can be one that you own.
Problem 2: We’re scared of being quiet
SEO has a lot to answer for. The internet is overflowing with keyword-packed content that simply refuses to get to the point, with brands fighting to rank and scrapping over every last click. If you search for something now you won’t find the best results for that search - you’ll find the results that have put the most money into their SEO.
This need to rank is born from a need to be heard. Brands are terrified that if they say nothing, people will instantly forget about them and move to their rivals. They post a new blog twice a week, they update social media three times a day. they throw a load of shit at the wall and sees what sticks. This makes them feel omnipresent, and just like beige wallpaper, very easy to ignore.
What’s the solution?
Do less, better. Put your money into fewer, better ideas. Invest in making your website more user-friendly, spend time on creating a genuinely interesting ad campaign, focus on getting your tone of voice right. People will notice that much more than they’ll notice the hundreds of blog posts you’ve optimised to make yourself rank 5th for that niche keyword.
Problem 3: Tell me something I don’t know
I don’t care if you’re the ‘best in the market’. I don’t care if you’re ‘market-leading’. I don’t even care if you’re ‘recommended by dentists’. What I do care about is the thing that makes you unique. That thing might not be unique at all, but if you make it sound different you’ll get my attention. The phrase ‘unique selling point’ doesn’t always mean finding something that no-one else has, because that’s a pretty rare thing. But it does mean taking something and running with it, making it sing, making it stand out.
A lot of creative doesn’t seem to know what its USP is, so it says something any other brand could say too. Boring.
Go on then, genius, what’s the answer?
There’s a good chance there’s absolutely nothing special about the product you’re working on, but look at what you do have. Write down a list of features, then write what those features do for the users. Then write what that could make possible, and go crazy. Go so far it’s stupid, to the point when you know it’s absolutely never going to run. Once you’re there, you’ve got something to work with. You can turn that stupid thought into something usable.
I once wrote some ads for a mortgage that could be approved within 24 hours. On its own, it’s not that special an offer. Lots of mortgages can do it. But what it did mean was that you could get a mortgage approved without getting out of bed, while sitting in your pants, while watching Emmerdale, etc etc etc. That’s much more fun
Tl;dr?
Find what makes your product different. Go wild with it.
Invest in quality over quantity.
Think about how your product impacts lives.
HAVE FUN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WE ONLY LIVE ONCE.