Filed under: Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Confidence, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Insight, Loyalty, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Relevance, Resonance
A few weeks ago someone sent me this picture …
Yes, it’s funny, but it’s also right.
At least to a certain audience group.
Which seems to be a thing we’re increasingly forgetting.
Quite a lot of the time, it feels like we experience some sort of group deliberate ignorance. Preferring to suggest ideas will appeal to everyone because we live in a world where the slightest whiff of ‘niche’ is immediately dismissed by clients.
It’s why we have target audiences that are 25-54.
It’s why we have ads that are about people rather than for people.
It’s why we pretend entire generations THINK AND ACT EXACTLY THE SAME.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Especially when think about the huge amounts of money being spent on research to ‘know our audience better’.
Great brands sacrifice.
They want to mean everything to someone rather than be something for everyone.
Which is why they know who they are. Know who they matter to. And know what to focus on.
That doesn’t mean they are limiting their success … they’re growing it.
Valuing who they are as much as what they earn and building scale from leading change rather than blindly chasing popularity.
It’s the foundation of why they charge more, sell more and are desired more. Especially compared to the product amoebas who spend their millions communicating to anyone about absolutely nothing..
So while people in our industry may smugly question the intelligence of the people who wrote that sign on the back of the ute … if we were to invite them to look at what our industry says and does, I’m pretty sure they’d think we’re the bigger joke.
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Comment by Pete March 17, 2022 @ 8:21 am2022 has rejuvenated you Robert. Or rejuvenated the angry in you. Well said, it is terrifying how much group think mentality there is in strategy. Or the controversial for the sake of being controversial. Too many battling about process rather than change. Strategy was once a home for independent, sharp thinking. Now it is about packaging for the masses.
Comment by George March 17, 2022 @ 8:39 amPossibly related to the fact that he’s been on holiday for most of it?
Comment by John March 17, 2022 @ 8:44 amPossibly.
Comment by George March 17, 2022 @ 8:51 amBut I’ve not had a holiday for weeks!
Comment by Rob March 17, 2022 @ 9:11 amtime for another fucker then.
Comment by andy@cynic March 17, 2022 @ 10:05 amPackaging vs planning is the perfect encapsulation of what is happening way too often. A focus on keeping the client happy rather than making change that creates happiness for the client.
Of course not everyone is like this – thank god – but it does remind me of this talk I gave for WARC a while back. A talk that apparently pissed some people off.
https://robcampbell.co/2020/10/16/lets-have-another-bonfire/
Comment by Rob March 17, 2022 @ 9:15 amI forgot that post. It is very, very good.
Comment by George March 17, 2022 @ 9:32 amWhoever connected covid, sperm and bitcoin is the most independent of independent thinkers.
Comment by Pete March 17, 2022 @ 11:37 amThe title of this post sums up the problem and the goal all at once.
Comment by George March 17, 2022 @ 8:40 amNobody reads long copy.
Comment by John March 17, 2022 @ 8:43 amNobody reads this blog.
Except George.
And you John … but only to pick fault. I mean … to enlighten me, hahaha.
Comment by Rob March 17, 2022 @ 9:16 amThat mean vaxxed sperm is real money and I’m a billionaire.
Comment by Billy Whizz March 17, 2022 @ 9:05 amThat’s the worst image I’ve ever had in my head .. and you’re responsible for at least 45% of the worst images in there.
Comment by Rob March 17, 2022 @ 9:16 amBilly. You’ve been trying to give it away for free since I’ve known you, so you’r definitely not sperm rich.
Comment by Bazza March 17, 2022 @ 9:25 amthat left a fucked taste in my mouth. boom fucking tish.
Comment by andy@cynic March 17, 2022 @ 10:05 amunvaxxed sperm is the new bitcoin. full of hype and worth fuck all.
Comment by andy@cynic March 17, 2022 @ 10:08 amBest bitcoin review I’ve read.
Comment by DH March 17, 2022 @ 10:25 amLiberal agencies are a cesspit of conformists living in denial, that play the game ‘reality is lava’ on a daily basis.
Anyone involved in communication should be able to smell propaganda from a mile away, yet if you have an alternate view to the woke lefties that are so far left they’re actually right wing … you are ostracised.
If more than half or at least half a country votes to leave the EU or for someone like Trump, maybe try to understand that audience. Like at the minimum.
The reaction to a Nigel Farage piece in Campaign magazine was like a sixth form common room that don’t understand the principles of democracy or free speech.
The amount of PR … Farage gained is of interest or you’d think would be .. for people working in media. Whether you agree with his politics or not.
‘Reality is Lava’ is the world these out of touch conformists live in, not everyone that voted leave or for Trump is racists and if you haven’t noticed sportsmen that are hyper aware of what goes inside their body simply said there is not enough evidence for me to put this vaccine in my body, or enough proof there won’t be long term side effects.
Comment by Head Girl Penny-Louise March 18, 2022 @ 12:56 amDear Head Girl … which is obviously not your name.
Apart from the fact you’re throwing around generalisations as much as the people you claim do, what has your rant got to do with this post?
That said, for the record, I’m guessing you’re white which explains why you may not understand the message the Farage cover actually sent out. I have no issue with him being interviewed – he should be, because as much as I don’t agree with anything he says, he – as you point out – has a sizeable impact in society and has achieved a lot of popularity in a short time and so whether you like it or not, there’s stuff to listen and learn from. But putting him on the cover with that shit-eating grin was despicable for the message it sent out to many people who already feel they are not welcome in this industry.
So as much as you accuse people like me as blinkered, maybe look in the mirror. We’re all flawed. Every last one of us. Some, just more than most.
Comment by Rob March 18, 2022 @ 3:06 amNowhere near half of either country voted for Brexit or Trump.
Comment by Pedant March 18, 2022 @ 8:18 am