Business Thoughts, Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations

hope & marketing (part 2)

Ok.

I had so much to write about in “hope, low prices and selling” that I took this part and thinking and put it in its own little piece.

Here we go.

Fact.

Communicating choices with the intent to persuade someone to “choose me” is an inexact science.

In fact.

It is not a science at all (despite what ROI marketing driven people suggest and desire).

Yes.

There is a discipline to crafting communications (c’mon … given the amount of time people have done things there is certainly a list of ‘trial & error’ learnings to use as benchmarks).

But.

Advertising iconic hero Bill Bernbach said: “I warn you against believing that advertising is a science. Artistry is what counts. The business is filled with great technicians, and unfortunately they talk the best game … but there’s one little problem. Advertising happens to be an art, not a science.”

And this dude, and his agency DDB, created some good shit (and still does).

So.

So, because being in the choice communication business (and selling hope) isn’t a science, the truth is (another fact) the more research conducted to “strengthen” choice communications (i.e., marketing & advertising) the more functional the communication has to be judged on … because that is the only thing research can quantitatively measure.

Emotion, or something you just feel in your gut, cannot be measured.

(note: there are some wacky research tools out there that attempt to do so but regardless of their best efforts no one I know can use ‘brain wave’ or ‘twitch muscle’ research to truly tell you what your gut tells you)

And (as noted in the previous ‘hope’ post) functional doesn’t win in the long run. Emotion or some higher order value wins.

Bottom line?

Two things lead to mediocrity and conformity in communications: research and rational benefits.

Interestingly this thought goes way beyond communications and advertising. It runs true in just about any transaction-based relationship (i.e., shopping).

Another fact.

Shopping isn’t simply a transaction. Shopping is an experience.

And I don’t necessarily mean experience in the “walking around and looking and touching” perspective. One expert said it best:

“We dream of shopping for beauty, truth and perfection, and if we do not shop for a perfect society, at least we shop for a perfect self.”

Yes. Correct. And, yes, again.

We shop and we make choices as an extension of ourselves – of who we are and what we want to be. That, at its most psychological Maslow-like level, is the pursuit for a perfect self.

Sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo? Maybe sounds like it but it ain’t.

We talk transactions but we behave emotionally.

(how often has your head say “she is all wrong for me” and then you go ahead and let your heart tell you what to do?)

Anyway.

The same expert also suggested that she believes “the noblest aspect of shopping is finding a community, a discovery that usually happens at a place like a farmer’s market or a neighborhood store, where interaction among customers is fostered. Rallying for these public spaces rather than buying things, she argues, should be what we use shopping to achieve.”

Poetic words.

Maybe even sounds a little too lofty.

But its not. Because if you ignore the thought behind the words you simply fall back into the functional/rational zone of sameness (and then, I guess, it does become a science).

If it helps … simplistically she is suggesting creating spaces so that “birds of a feather can flock together” and be happy amongst others.

So why is all this important?

Well. If I want someone to ‘choose me’ I have to understand the challenges. Understanding motivation for behavior is one thing (and a very very important thing).

Understanding HOW to communicate is another.

Bill Bernbach again: “85% of all ads don’t even get looked at. Think of it! You and I are the most extravagant people in the world. Who else is spending billions of dollars and getting absolutely nothing in return? We were worried about whether or not the American public loves us. They don’t even hate us. They just ignore us.”

So even if I am in the ‘selling hope’ business I have to deliver the message in a memorable, interesting and artful way if I want whatever I am marketing to be chosen.

Notice I used art in there.

Because, once again, it is not a science.

I cannot simply say “hey, look over here, I am selling some hope-on-a-rope.”

I gotta be creative and offer up some communication that stirs someone emotionally and lets them arrive at the benefit all by themselves. That is a powerful communications when that happens.

And there absolutely can be some discipline in the approach but the ultimate output is art.

A maddening art. I often call it the “glorious mistakes when we blunder into an incredible way to say what we want to say.”

Why a ‘glorious mistake’?

Well.

Often the most insightful communication is partly flawed … slightly imperfect. Likeable. Believable. And I ended on believable because while communications is art … truth is just that – truth. No grey. Just truth. And that is ultimately what makes things believable.

Bob Levenson (hired by Bill Bernbach) may have said it best when he responded to a Time magazine contest in the 1960’s. Ad agencies were invited to create an advertisement in the public interest. He wrote a manifesto for the ad industry (see below). It conveys the honesty that the advertising/marketing profession is founded upon. And still should uphold as the beacon for everything every marketer (at any level) should do in the communications business.

Bottom line?

Share truth.

Sell hope.

And enjoy, share, and DO THIS OR DIE.

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August 22, 2011 by Bruce

Written by Bruce

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hope & marketing (part 2)

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