TIME TO LOOK AT NEW WAYS TO ADVERTISE. Turn back the clock to reap the greatest rewards.
Advertising has been increasingly recognized not only as an art form, but also as a central element of popular culture.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Functional advertising strategies of the 1850’s generally stated product, service and price.
By the end of 19th century, imagery started to influence consumers decisions; A beautiful pure white face with a headline that said “Pears soap”
The early 20th century brought innovation and upheaval. The Russian ballet visited London and New York between 1911 and 1916 . Seta were designed by Picasso and Chagall. Music by Debussy and Ravel.
World war 1 had arrived , and with that, advertising learnt a great deal about the techniques of manipulating emotions.
They took caricature and hyperbole to new extremes in the evocation of fear, guilt and hatred.
This use of negative emotions has been put to effective use by advertising ever since,and now most obvious in the device of “negative sell”- in which an ad depicts the consequences of failing to buy a product.
From the 1930’s , advertising moved into outrageous puns and parodies.
The 1950’s brought Rosser Reeves and the concept of the “ Unique Selling Proposition” (USP)
Then the century’s most colourful decade arrived. The industry was facing a new problem- how to appeal to increasingly young and skeptical consumers who were rejecting materialistic value that had developed post-WORLD WAR 11.
What was the answer?
It came from Bill Bernbach, creative director of Doyle, Dane & Bernbach and architect of the creative revolution. He looked for creative who could generate strong, arresting ideas and who could reduce all the elements of a brief into a single , integrated and relevant proposition.
The style that developed was witty, honest and simple. The cluttered illustrative styles of the 1940’s and 1950’s were replaced by photography. The central core of Bernbach’s belief is that if you want to persuade people that your product is different, you need advertising that is different.
Three decade later, his principles lived on but got entwine with Rosser Reeves; Bernbach had always eschewed formulas in the belief that they inhibited creativity. But his many observations provided criteria for judging an ad.
We are lost in a world of “hyperbole and bulls ”Hyperbole is exaggeration. So why should I belief anyone who exaggerates? VW claim the POLO is small but tough. Would you belief a dozen policemen protecting themselves from bullets behind a POLO? Or LAND ROVER that can climb to the top of a 300m rocky hill?
Clients are hooked on hyperbole. OPEL GERMANY insists on hyperbole. Cars surfing the waves? Does that sell? Or would you respond to 1960’s headline, “VOLVOS last a long time” Isn’t that bad for business?
My view is to turn back the clock. Take Rosser Reeves (the USP differentiator) and the Bernbach principle (surprise) and combine these with a challenge to the consumer. This is when you need the ”Best of Breed”
When we launched the Matrix vehicle tracking company, the “differentiator” was that they could locate a vehicle within 30 seconds. The ‘surprise” was in the challenge . “interrogate your vehicle tracking company. You’ve got 30 seconds”
Three bullets points asked the consumer to phone their tracking company and test if they could locate their vehicle within 30 seconds. If not, then call Matrix. Matrix grew from a customer base of 10 000 to over 400 000.
In this world of cluttered products, advertising sets out to entertain, or create some art form with no differentiator.
The gold does not lie there but in our formula; Differentiator + Surprise + Challenge=Results.
Turn back the clock now and follow this formula.
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