For those sad enough to ‘follow’ me on Twitter or Facebook … you may of already seen this … however as I assume any interaction with me is a byproduct of [1] an accident and/or [2] a science experiment, I doubt it.
Anyway, on New Years Eve, my Mum sent me a clip that represents the sort of sweetness that Walt Disney would have sold his left bollock for …
Now this post isn’t going to talk about how we should be inspired by ‘opposing animal love’ and put aside our differences to work towards a better planet … it’s not even going to bore you rigid about what cute/stupid/annoying shit my cat does on a daily basis – it’s simply to point out that if you watched the above [albeit cute] clip without any sound, I would guess whatever emotional impact you experienced, would be lessened … and I would guess those of you who have pets [or have always wanted pets] would have felt an even deeper connection to the clip – which leads me to the question that if a woman with 2 perverted pets, a video camera and an alarming lack of musical taste can produce a clip that makes you smile and feel warm inside, why the hell can’t clients and agencies with their multi-million dollar budgets and experience?
I’m willing to take a stab at the answer and that is that they’ve forgotten to include the ‘human’ element into what they’ve been doing … preferring to either focus on ‘marketing truths’, some outdated and poorly executed ‘focus group’ research and/or an obsession with pleasing their peers, not their audience.
I remember years ago we were asked to help a big telco drive greater customer acquisition through their comms strategy. Without boring you stupid, of the many things that we came up with – there was one that we thought merited greater exploration – and that was the percentage of their customers that owned, or adored animals.
The reason for this was that for the past 6 years, their communication had used animals as the core talent in all their executions and our hypothesis was that on top of things like distribution, special offers, phone launches – their ad style was resulting in attracting a disproportionate amount of animal lovers to their network.
Well guess what – via an independent and fairly substantial research study – we were proved right and yet, when we suggested their strategy should include encouraging greater pet ownership across the country [in association with the RSPCA equivalent] rather than just relying on ridiculously expensive and overly commoditised phone/network deals and communication, we were kicked out and basically told never to darken their door again.
That still bugs the crap out of me because apart from us having some lovely ideas to make it work – we still think the idea underpinning it is solid, but I guess given we weren’t called Clotaire Rapaille, I guess we were seen as freaks, not fortune makers.
The French fuck the Brits again. Bastards.
I’ve banged on for years how I believe that for adland to regain their true commercial value, they need to be acknowledged as the people who understands, engages and intrigues society better than anyone else [rather than the current business view that we simply ‘make ads’ … and often, just self-serving ones at that] – however with so much emphasis on pleasing the marketing director rather than the CEO, I doubt that is a view that will fundamentally change anytime soon.
One of the best things I’ve ever read about marketing from a human emotional need rather than a rational marketing need is a chapter in Cliff Havener’s ‘The Secret To Being Alive’.
I literally spent 10 years trying to get a copy of his book – and while it is good – it’s nothing compared to that single chapter and now I am an animal owner, I realise what Cliff was doing back in the 60’s was even more powerful and insightful than I originally thought.
There’s nothing too mind blowing in it – it’s all quite simple really, especially when you understand the needs/wants/fears and desires of that specific segment in society – however with so much marketing focused on understanding the category rather than the culture it operates in, it’s little surprise that so few brands have seemingly infiltrated the wider echelons of society and made a deep and meaningful emotional connection with them.
Anyway you can read it for yourself because that key chapter can be downloaded here.
Right, that’s enough ranting for now – it’s still early in 2010 – however if you are still swept up in the emotion of the little dog and cat clip, don’t be … the little dog is a pussy obsessed whore as you can see for yourself by clicking here.