You gonna meet my friend, Pain!

Personification in advertising

Most recently, a banana I was pissed off with because it went straight from green to brown. With no consideration for me or my potassium requirements. It had just sat in the fruit bowl for a week, rent free, being an absolute bastard. And I told it so.

A slightly different approach; my friend Rachel has taken to sticking googly eyes on things in her office to give them a more human feel.

The words danced along to the next paragraph

You might consider personification odd, but it’s actually completely natural. Drawing on the concept of anthropomorphism, when we personify, human attributes can be applied to anything – nature, animals, inanimate objects. Or something completely abstract, through applying stories about their social roles, emotions or intentions (we all know Comic Sans has an evil streak).

Personification reveals a lot about social cognition and how we might understand the world. And we accept it because it’s slipped into everyday language. ‘This house has seen a lot’ – unless Rachel has been there with her stickers, I can guarantee it has no eyes to see anything. ‘She does 54mpg’. ‘Today just keeps on giving’. ‘That piece of cake is calling my name’. A guy helping me learn to swim recently told me ‘water is lazy’.

Some view it as an unsophisticated form of communication. If it’s not logical and scientific, it’s wrong. But actually, it can open up a more imaginative and creative route of conversation.

Time flies when you’re writing

When it comes to personification in ads – there’s a mixed approach. For example, Mr Energizer, the M&M Chocolates, the Michelin Man. They all act as spokescharacters for a brand or product. Love them or hate them, they do what they need to do and make a brand recognisable.

But for me where it gets nice is the use of visual metaphors used to confuse the brain, and trigger an anthropomorphic response. Remember, the brain is super lazy. Yes, even yours. And it won’t even bother to look up from it’s holiday read unless it’s going to get rewarded with something to challenge and surprise it. Below are some examples of ads that demonstrate what a product does by giving it a related human characteristic.

 

If you’ve attended any training around brand personality or storytelling, you’ll no doubt have discussed the merits of the genius personification in Epuron’s Mr Wind. It’s in this kind of territory where personification really flaunts its stuff in advertising – when it’s providing a personality to something you can’t actually see.

A super example is the recent Love that feeling? campaign from the AA. Aside from ticking so many other boxes (great use of colour, sound, no product, no proof points), the ad captures a feeling of happiness (one of the six core human emotions) by applying personification to a rag dog (dogification?) Whatever. You get the idea. What’s more, it’s making your brain tune in and take notice, asking ‘what’s this dog up to, then?’ as it waits for a surprise reveal at the end.

At the other end of the emotional scale, BT’s The Hate that ran during The Euros saw the title emotion personified as an elusive phantasm, terrorising victims of online abuse. Sadness, anger, fear and disgust are four of the six core human emotions, captured in this one ad. As with ‘Mr Wind’, people are aware of the effects of unseen things, but capturing them in a visual form helps elicit a more emotional connection with the audience; the best way to get attention and encourage action.

The blog was yelling for a conclusion

So, in conclusion. I assume Mr. T doesn’t really have a friend called Pain, am almost certain cars don’t have lady bits, and know in my heart of hearts that banana didn’t have it in for me. But, hey ho – surrounding myself with human characteristics in the absence of real humans for a few more months isn’t so bad. At least they don’t talk back. Right, I’m off to say Aloha Vera to the aloe vera – spiky, silent bitch that she is.

Personification in advertising

If you’d like to talk to us about your friend the brief, drop us a note saying ‘How do I put googly eyes on an email?👀’ here.

One Black Bear is proud to announce membership of the IPA.

One Black Bear is proud to announce membership of the IPA

 

 

There are lots of great reasons to feel honoured to join the IPA (Institute for the Practitioners in Advertising) and we’re looking forward to everything being a full member agency offers.
The training, the seminars, the fantastic insight resources on offer to name but a few.

It’s more than just a badge. It’s a catalyst for us to look at the business as a whole if we’re honest. Belonging to such a revered organisation makes you want to get the rest of your house in order.

It’s all part of coming back better if you like.

Fifteen months plus into a pandemic means you have time to take stock. Look at areas you want to improve and generally assess how we could make OBB even better and stronger. Both for our clients and our people. We’ve talked about becoming members on and off for some time – and for one reason or another, it never quite happened. Too busy, too much other expense, too…..many excuses basically.

Now felt like the right time and we’re so very glad we’ve done it.

So that’s why the IPA logo will, following an extensive refurb’, hang pride of place in our new home in a new part of town… more on that in the coming weeks.
Next to our own new logo.
And above the desks of new staff. Very, very talented staff too (and that’s all we’re saying, for now).

So new affiliations, new home, new agency ID and new staff. Basically a new beginning.

Thanks go to the IPA for allowing us in, because the process of joining made us think about how and where we belong generally.
After 18 years, we feel and indeed are established – but still yearn to come back from the most bizarre of times feeling re-energised.
The hunger is still very much there. Who fancies an agency style lunch to celebrate?

If you’d like to talk to us about the importance of your agency being in the IPA, drop us a note saying:. ‘I need a serious agency that takes its responsibilities seriously’ here.

Frankie says, book a ticket.

Shock tactics in advertising

#FGTH was never a hashtag. It all happened far too long ago for that.

However, it’s fair to say that few bands with short careers are as formidable or boast an impact as considerable as Frankie goes to Hollywood.

That’s why I was so pleased to read about a new exhibition wholly dedicated to the Scouse band :

https://www.artscityliverpool.com/single-post/frankie-goes-to-the-british-music-experience-in-2021

I was at school when they first hit the radio playlists.

I would’ve been around 12 and Mike Read had refused to play ‘Relax’ on Radio 1 in the interests of decency.

Well (not) played Mike, because that was arguably the biggest boost you could give a new band with a record out .

Pre BBC ban the single sat at number six. Post ban, Relax surged to number 1.

For five weeks. (It’s also the seventh highest selling UK single of all time).

Loud, proud and with stonking beats just made for the clubs, I’ll admit to finding ‘Frankie’ very scary at the time.

At the age I was and coming from a pretty ordinary background, I guess the whole gay backdrop to this glorious 5 piece, with its risqué imagery and x rated lyrical content, was all a bit much for a 12 year old.

But that’s why I think they’re great – both musically and for helping to change attitudes.

Those with a sniffy, homophobic disposition had the stick up their arse swiftly swapped for a giant, rubberised poker.

This was needed because shamefully, back then, the whole gay movement was still something carefully censored within mainstream outlets like Radio 1 and TOTP.

Non-threatening mumsy gay would regularly grace prime time Saturday night tv but this was a different kind of gay. This was in your face gay. Gay with attitude – and thank God it happened too.

AIDS had shone a big bright light on sexuality but in doing so, had also demonised homosexuality in the media with negative headlines and assertions about a ‘gay plague’ sweeping the planet. Curtain twitching disapproval at its worst.

Headlines like ‘Gay Plague’ look and sound like something from the Middle Ages today because thankfully, social attitudes have evolved massively and for the better. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/11/30/world-aids-day-1980s-headlines-tabloids/

But this was 1984.

Frankie was unashamedly provocative, sweaty, edgy and predatory. Holly Johnson strutted around in sharp suits while his band mates wore leather biker caps, long macs and even bondage style chaps – all within a video set akin to the last days of Rome.

Relax got turned off in our house if it came on the telly or (non BBC) radio. Again, a sign of less liberal & enlightened times. Also, incidentally, exactly the reaction good bands should trigger.

The video to Relax remains provocative even by today’s standards. And I think that’s great. To this day they are only one of two bands to have consecutive number 1’s with their first three singles.

Trevor Horn and his ZTT records deserve endless thanks for delivering us Frankie.

Being fierce at its finest.

When you want to come (sorry not sorry), book tickets to see the exhibition. I certainly am.

Then I’m going to try and write an ad that will upset mine and every other mum in the land.

If you’d liked to be shocked, ask us to look at a brief here.

Don’t Knock A Little Mitsake

Why marketing should embrace its own Error 404

NOTE URGENT THINGS he’d read. That little mistake had royally ramped up the sense of urgency I was going for. Ooops.

Don’t worry, don’t worry – this isn’t another blog about how an ordering mistake turned out to be the best cluck-up KFC ever made (I’ve already written that). But a smaller error that caught my attention back in January.

Ikea Singapore launched an exclusive range of cloth shopping bags. Exclusive because the web address was wrong. Thousands of bags were printed missing the ‘m’ in .com (hmmmm…. A one letter mishap – sound familiar!?).

Rather than throw them out, Ikea owned it, proudly displaying their bags with this message:

KLAMBY. LIMITED UNIQUE ALAMAK… At IKEA, it’s OK to make a mistake.

The decision to keep them on sale stemmed from a commitment to sustainability and reducing waste. And they flew off the shelves, with people keen to own such an elusive item.

The little point I am trying to make is that sometimes accidents can and do result in something positive. In advertising and in life. Microwaves, pacemakers, x-rays, playdough. All created by accident. And the slinky! Who creates a slinky by accident when they’re trying to engineer a balancing solution for ship equipment? An absolute legend, I guess.

As humans we learn by trial and error. It’s in our psychology from the day we’re born to use mistakes to help us grow, develop, learn, and improve. How do you think you learnt to walk? Run? Not electrocute yourself? My guess would be you spent lots of time as a child falling over and sticking your fingers in plug sockets, gradually adjusting your approach to keep injuries and hospital visits to a minimum through your adult life.* You learnt from your mistakes.

Make no mistake, I know mistakes are far from ideal.

We strive to stop slip-ups, endeavour to avoid error. But sometimes they bring good, so long as we learn from them. What’s valuable is being open to the potential from your mistakes; that unexpected result, and being tuned in enough to realise that what seemed like a problem could be an opportunity in some form.

Ikea sold thousands of bags, learnt to get their copy checked twice, and used the opportunity to showcase their green creds.

Richard James’s invention sold millions worldwide, brought joy to thousands of children that enjoy looking at stairs, and actually helped him in achieving his marine balancing mission.

And I stayed on the phone to Jon until gone 6, and learnt that dropping a critical vowel from an email subject line won’t get you sacked.

This is my little reminder to you that with all that’s going on in the world – little mistakes will happen – learn from them, and keep going. You’re doing fine.

Hang on in there, y’all.

*Christmas parties and social gatherings after 21st June 2021 are not represented by this statement.

Why marketing should embrace its own Error 404

If you’d like to talk to us about making opportunities out of problems, drop us a note saying:. ‘I hope it wasn’t a mitsake to send you this’ here.

The toil for loyal

Can we admit to Brand Loyalty?

A whopping 95% of our decision making is pre-conscious or intuitive. Just like us, out on our one exercise excursion of the day in the wintery rain, it’s always looking for shortcuts. And it’s no different when it comes to making decisions on the brands we buy.

Brand recall

We already know that most advertising receives no active attention whatsoever. Or not enough for our slothful brains to take in what is being advertised. And even if they do remember the ad, they might not recall the brand. Brands are a very small part of a consumer’s life – they don’t think much even about the ones they buy. Tech advances and busy lives have made getting attention increasingly difficult. Couple this with the levels of choice sky-rocketting and humans will look to habit and convenience to guide them, restricting consideration down to a few favoured brands.

A quick route to decision along with physical availability are key factors underpinning brand loyalty. A sensible buying strategy used to balance risk and avoid wasting time. You’ll use this in all walks of life – from choosing which hand sanitiser to buy, to what YouTube Yoga session to try. You’ll narrow your options down to your personal repertoire, and stick with them.

We ‘Satisfice’ (God, I love that word). Rather than fatigue our frontal lobe, we settle for satisfactory. Understand that brand loyalty is unimaginative, not passionate.

This all made perfect sense to me, until things started to change in March 2020. Brand loyalty is defined as:

“positive feelings towards a brand and dedication to purchase the same product or service repeatedly from the same brand, regardless of a competitor’s actions or changes in the environment”.

Regardless of changes in the environment… Hmmm…

How we recall a belief about a brand or anything else is highly dependent on situation, cues, and other things going on in our minds. We already know that what we think about brands is so trivial that our attitudes towards them aren’t always absolute.

Loyalty

I’ve tried to apply this to myself – both a consumer and human with a lazy brain – a creature of habit, ‘loyal’ to brands I know. Since the ‘rona took over, I reckon there’s been a shift in my brand loyalty, thanks to things out of my control. Some brands I would buy haven’t been available on the shelf. Some weeks I have been worried about unnecessary expenditure on a product I usually wouldn’t think twice about. Whatever it’s based on, I reckon my ‘brand loyalty’ is reducing – and I am not alone.

A recent study among US consumers found brand loyalty dropped by 16% between March and November 2020. Mostly attributed to job (and subsequent income) losses. Some also claimed to have switched brands simply because their ‘go-to’ wasn’t available on the shelf thanks to supply chain issues. As our sky-high choice levels fell, perhaps so did our subconscious loyalty.

Brand behaviour

But aside from the devastating economic context, there appears to be some potential positive outcomes too. With the last few months seeing some consumers shift towards brands that align with their values. Some that took part in the aforementioned study said they’d switched brands to ‘take a stand’ in response to a brand’s behaviour and position when it came to important issues. I get these may not be the same participants as those switching brands as a direct cause of income loss or product availability, but the shift is still worth noting. Brand selection could be becoming a little more about purpose than product.

And that’s probably where I have found myself too. I’ve switched energy providers to one with 100% green electricity, and am ordering more beer from BrewDog now they’re Carbon negative. I’m a walking bloody cliché.

Back in the olden days of hugging, pub visits, commutes and rushing about, our choices needed to be quick. There was a brand purpose ripple already in motion. I do wonder if the pandemic has given it a bit more force for some people. Perhaps when so many things have been taken away from us, we’re learning to take a more conscious control of the choices we have left. And perhaps the brands that stood for something will be the ones that thrive when we can all start standing near each other again.

If you’d like to maximise your inner satisficer, drop us a note saying:. ‘Just like Mick, I can’t get no satisfaction’ here.

Can we admit to Brand Loyalty?

Appetite for disruption.

Disruption in advertising… really?

After a year of retreat, agencies and brands need to come back fighting.

As good friends for many a year, the late, great Oliver Reed often liked to invite the equally late, great Keith Moon over for afternoon drinkypoos at his sprawling country estate.

Arriving in style

In keeping with his rock god status, Moon liked to travel by helicopter to Reed’s imposingly grand Broome Hall. He’d land on the quad to be greeted by the first of many lead crystal clad large ones (one would need to line their stomach ahead of drinks with those pair).

On hearing the approaching rotors, Reed would excitedly bound outside. He’d then raise his shotgun to the skies and attempt to rattle his incoming, airborne mucka by taking pot shots as the rasping downdraft blasted the heaps of rhododendron.

‘I’m shooting at the moon’ boomed the celebrated film star as high velocity ball bearings nicked the tail rotor and fuselage. Reed thought all this absolutely hilarious (he also once climbed the chimney of his local naked pretending to be Santa and was barred). Astonishingly, no actors or rock stars were harmed during this jovial discharge of lethal weaponry.

Perhaps that’s what Reed meant when he mentioned having a few shots round at his.

From great actors to great frontmen.

Full metal jacket

At the height of Guns & Roses implosion with band members in court and millions of dollars in dispute, it’s said that Axl Rose attempted to buy his own army.

Yep, an army.

Growing ever more disillusioned by his band’s demise, Axl’s ‘people’ apparently rang several departments of defence around the world asking if they’d consider offloading a battalion or two. Maybe chucking in a bit of artillery with the deal too.

They’d be well paid and well equipped. A penchant for rock & roll was considered more important than valour or stamina. General Rose needs you. Apply here.

Quite what Axl and his Defence Secretary elect planned to do with an army if they were successful in their bidding still remains unknown to this day. He’d tasted global domination musically so now perhaps it was time to up the stakes.

Bigger Guns but same sized Roses. You can have that one.

Playing at it

Truth is, the world needs the likes of Oli’ and Axl. People talk of disruption nowadays because they tweaked a logo or sponsored a whole break instead of running the obligatory 30′ spot. Oooh, you’re so rebellious.

That’s just playing at it. After such a shit year, agencies and brands should make a noise like never before in 2021. Do something that becomes folklore. Be famous. We’ve all had a rocky year, now we need to roll.

So aim high and you’ll win the battle AND the war – but don’t wait for others to pick up sticks.

Be (or even buy) your own army and always, always remember…Be Fierce. 

Disruption in advertising

If you’d like some real disruption, send us a note saying: ‘Reserve me a spot on the helipad, I’m landing at 2 for shots’ here.

Lockdown..or showdown.

Keeping clients out of copyright jail – If you’re going to breach copyright in these testing times, you could (grimly) reap what you sow.

I read with intrigue the other day that during lockdown, breaches of copyright and unlicensed usage of music and images had hit a ten year high.

Perhaps it’s because the culprits think the world has enough on its plate to bother with the odd unlicensed track or rogue, rights managed image.

‘Sod it, they say, stick it in the paper – who’s to know?’

10,000 years ago, Jon and I had the good fortune of befriending a very talented radio producer who’d also worked extensively in the music industry.

His tales of pop world antics were scurrilous, salacious and to be honest, utterly libellous so most can’t be repeated.

A story that won’t light a million beacons for the more litigious readers out there always sticks with me though – and relates to a music copyright breach on a galactic scale.

Someone putting together a campaign for an expansive and well known chain of liquor stores in the mid-west penned a ‘You’ll find it in the chiller’ campaign tagline.

Thriller in a manilla envelope

Thing is, they inserted said tagline into a ‘version’ of a little known pop song.

Dunno if you’ve heard of it?

It was ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson.

No permissions were sought on usage. Nothing mentioned about bastardising lyrics. Who cares. Who’s to know?

And hey, if you’re going to breach copyright, why not choose one of the most famous songs ever written in the history of music taken from an album that is still among the biggest selling of all time?

Go large or……go to prison (as it turned out).

In fact the ensuing litigation hit with such might & fright, it closed the chain down. Graveyard dead.

More suits than a Burton sale.

It carries a valuable lesson and we often recount this story to our team at OBB towers.

Chill in lockdown by all means. But don’t go ‘doing a chiller’ eh?

‘They’re out to get you’ as the song in question goes.

If you’d like us to keep you on the right side of the law or maybe bail you out, drop us a note saying: ‘I’m sick of constant porridge from my current agency’ here.

Could you repeat that?

Repetition in advertising bears repeating

In 12 minutes, the line ‘A million dreams’ was said, sung and whispered by Hugh Jackman’s entourage 17 times (20 if you include the dishwasher sesh). 17 times in 12 minutes. It was too much for me. So on returning from the kitchen, the film was speedily switched off.

The line (amongst other things) had completely exhausted my interest in continuing to engage with the film. I know repetition can be a good thing though, so where do you strike the right balance?

Effective frequency

If you work in advertising, you might have come across the term ‘effective frequency’, used to describe the number of times your consumer needs to be exposed to your message to elicit the desired response – be that buying your product, or actually remembering your message at all. Experts debate the best ways of calculating this number though, with arguments suggesting it could be anywhere between 3 and 20. It’s an idea that’s almost 140 years old, and still people can’t make up their minds. Here’s the basic idea though:

1st time – people look but don’t see your ad
2nd time – they don’t notice it
5th time – they read it
7th time – they get annoyed by it
9th time – they wonder if they’re missing out
13th time – they wonder if your product has value
17th time – they make a commitment to buy
20th time – they buy

This ‘more frequency = more effective’ approach was proposed by savvy marketer Thomas Smith in 1885(!) . And TBH, the majority still agree. Yes there needs to be enough concentration of media weight to cross certain thresholds, but the general consensus remains that messages are more effective when repeated. Studies have also shown consumers perceive repeated messaging as more truthful and believable, presumably because frequency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. This is further supported when you consider repeated exposure to an opinion makes people believe the opinion is more prevalent, and therefore assume it’s a popular opinion. In social psych circles this is known as ‘the repetition effect’, and is the cornerstone of modern political campaigning as well as more workaday advertising.

Less is more, more often

So – fewer lines communicated more frequently. That makes loadsa sense, and there’s research and psychological insight to back it up. But all too soon you’ll hear a client utter those dreaded words: We. Need. A. Revamp. This is totally fine if there’s a good business reason, supported by facts, logic and research. However, more often than not, people make this decision because they’re bored. Seriously.

If you’ve been involved in developing a campaign – or you’re inheriting one – you can understand why boredom might arise. You see that same line everywhere you look. Not only have you spent six months planning its launch, seen it all over TV, heard it all over radio, and watched engagement with it on social, it’s now on every wall, notepad and screensaver you walk past when you’re in the office.

Your boredom threshold isn’t an indicator

But trust me, you’ll be bored of it a LONG time before your consumers will even notice it. They haven’t nurtured it from scamp to screen. They need time, sometimes years, to orientate to your message, and as shown above, they need exposure to it a lot before they’ll even care about what you’re trying to say. It’s also worth remembering that when they do take notice, they’ll likely only remember one thing about your ad – a strong claim, or a strong concept.

I am not saying don’t run new campaigns, don’t look at new creative executions, or don’t try new channels to market. BUT brands have got to listen when it comes to advice around not changing lines when they’re far from being exhausted. Give your audience time. There’s a chasm of difference between a rebrand and a refresh.

A million times I heard it

So, I guess to adhere to traditional blog writing etiquette I should try and relate my closing lines to my opening ones – so here’s my scientific conclusion.

‘A million dreams’ played the frequency card, but missed the all important effective point. According to Elder Smith, I should have gone through several stages of ignorance, irritance and intrigue before my 17th exposure to the line and it made me think ‘yep, this is for me’. Oh well, this is why advertising ain’t the same as The Greatest Showman I guess. Glad we’re clear on that.

Maybe I was the wrong audience, or maybe the film is just shit. Guess I’ll never know.

Repetition in advertising bears repeating

If you’re tired of repeating yourself with your current agency, drop us a note saying:. ‘I’d like to have a chat about my marketing… I said I’d like to… oh, never mind’ here.

Talk to me

Tone of voice in advertising

It wouldn’t be a blog on tone of voice without mentioning Innocent. Everyone’s seen the topical OOH campaign which, while appearing to be a sincere reminder of things people have missed, in some cases also doubled as an honest, comforting reminder of some of the things we really haven’t.

As a potential consumer, I obviously like the sarcastic, playful tone. In a time where everything is serious – it’s nice not to be, just for a second. As someone working in advertising, I obviously like the sarcastic use of hideous stock imagery (ok, best not head down that rabbit hole). The best thing about the ad though is OBVIOUSLY the fact no product features at all – not even a whisper. But the brand personality is being heard loud and clear.

An alternative approach to brand bellowing was delivered by Oatly back in the heady days of January (remember January? Nope, me neither).

Yes, yes they’re showing the product – but there’s no practical, rational, boring info in the copy that tells us anything about it which, while making it more interesting, is also allowing consumers to make a decision about how they relate to the brand and it’s personality.

Perhaps less seen, but equally lovely was this Emily Crisps campaign. With their April outdoor ad space booked in December 2019, they had two choices – cancel, pay the fees and wait quietly in the background for things to pass, or start a conversation with people. Unlike so many, thank god they went for the latter.

This ad didn’t ignore the difficult times people were going through, but instead put an arm around it. In a time when people needed a bit of a nonsense natter, their bravery paid off, and their ad delivered.

So, apart from all being food-stuffs, what do these ads have in common? That’s right guys – it’s brand over product. Winning. Again. I am not undermining the research, USPs, differentiation or distinctiveness that makes a product what it is. But quick reality check – it’s a smoothie. It’s milk. It’s crisps. 

Yes, rational things like ingredients, price and availability will contribute to whether a consumer chooses you when they nip to the shops. But actually recognising your product against all the competition relies on building and refreshing a memory structure they have relating to your brand. Ultimately – did you speak to them in the right way. Because rest assured, this will play more of a part in their decision making than whether you have 0.003% less sugar per serving.

All brands should recognise their TOV isn’t their colour palette’s poor cousin, and speak to consumers like they’re real humans. Because, well, that’s what they are.

Nice talking to you.

P.S

So, all these ads show brand personality through their copy, and they’re all large formats? As luck would have it I am very opinionated on both of these things – so while you’re here, have a gander at my related blogs on Swearing and Big Ads.

 

If you’d like to talk to us about how you should talk to your tribe, drop us a note saying:. ‘Do you speaka my language?’ here.

Sale Ends Sunday

Fear in advertising

My first real job thrust me into the complex, cut throat world of digital marketing recruitment. I ran my own sales desk, relentlessly forcing my way through the doors of some of the biggest brands in the UK. Winning their business and building relationships. And I was a bloody good at it. Why? Because I helped clients realise they couldn’t afford not to work with me.

Am I nice enough?

Six years later, I took the client services reins at an ad agency, and my first meeting with the marketing department of a well known supermarket. As I watched my director chat marketing schedules and media plans, something hit me. I wasn’t sure if I was nice enough for this…

Working in sales, I was always taught to use my knowledge to sell through a fear of loss. ‘I know you can’t deliver that project without my candidate’. ‘You’re not ready to offer? Hmmm, no worries three of your competitors are – have a nice day!’ Yes I know. Horrible. But now, I was watching someone selling on all the positives ‘you could get this much return!’, ‘we’ve secured all of this added value FOC!’.

Both routes primary objectives are to get a client to spend. To spend the right amount, and to spend it with you. But the methods are polar opposite.

Fear as a mechanism

There are six emotional-pulls used to sell a product or service: happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise, and fear. Using fear as a mechanism to sell can be a gift when it’s done well.

There’s a psychology behind it (obviously) with many studies commissioned to understand the effect fear has on emotional decision making; remember, we are not a rational bunch, we form emotional connections first, and worry about post-rationalisation later. Back in the 70s, David Kahneman (a bit of a legend in the realms of behavioural economics) coined the term ‘loss aversion’, suggesting people prefer avoiding loss to acquiring gain, with the former proving twice as psychologically painful. The idea is that if you fear you won’t get something, this is the biggest driver to making sure you get it.

Listerine

And the same goes for advertising, and the use of ‘fear appeal’, an early example of which was Listerine’s 1920’s consumer campaign designed to instil fear around human relationships, which could be in jeopardy if you had bad breath.

Lynx

You might think that’s dated, but at its core how much does this type of messaging differ from Lynx telling you you’ll never get laid unless you’re caked in Africa?

Tuborg

Or Tuborg advising you Always Say Yes for fear of being the loser in your friendship group?

Mothers, lovers, mates – fear is persuading all of them to buy. And do you know what – all of the campaigns worked.

[stop press]

I’ve irritated myself having three examples that big up the lads and tread down the ladies, but as we all know thanks to Mitchell and Webb, this is reality.

[stop press]

Personified, fear is a little, negative bastard that will massage your niggles until you choose to make it go away, which 9 times out of 10 means succumbing to it.

But, as demonstrated above, advertisers needn’t abandon integrity when going down the fear route. Being fierce doesn’t mean stoking irrational fears, or indeed fuelling rational ones. But a small injection of it could reap bigger rewards than always playing nice, and avoid people thinking that what you’re offering is just an optional extra.

Fear in advertising

If you’d like to find out how urgency in advertising makes the heart flutter, drop us a note saying:. ‘Hurry up and respond to this email, I don’t have all day’ here.

 

LÜRZER’S ARCHIVE | National Express Student Campaign

International recognition for National Express ad campaign

We’re honoured to be included in Vol.02-2020 of the LÜRZER’S INT’L ARCHIVE magazine.

The quarterly publication has been collating, displaying and archiving the best advertising work from around the world since 1984. So no surprise we feel proper chuffed to sit alongside the industry greats.

The campaign for National Express ran late last year to target students who were planning on making their first trip home after going to university. As well as running in press and outdoor, also appeared as a radio commercial and as online video in social media channels.

International recognition for National Express ad campaign

If you’re interested in how we make brands famous on the biggest of stages, drop us a note saying:. ‘Set me up a meeting. I want to go global but happy to see you in Birmingham… just don’t make eye contact’ here.

 

Coming up smelling of Roses

Award winning Birmingham creative agency

We had our best ever year at the prestigious Roses Creative Awards organised by The Drum.

Winning 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze from 7 nominations.

The Gold went to our Sleep Out poster for St Basils (which also picked up a bronze). We also got a bronze for out Hike for Homeless ad and then a silver and a bronze for the National Express student campaign.

We’re proud to say the haul was the most picked up by any Birmingham or Midlands creative agency. Yay us.