Savvy advertising protocol dictates that the typical buyer’s emotions motivate more swiftly than their logic when making a decision. Then logical reasoning enters to support and justify the emotions.
You see this advertising angle in effect from companies such as Dove, Dominoes, and Sprint, where each company removes focus from their product, service, or brand, and moves it to something bigger; something bigger than all of us. The most popular trend right now, for instance, is to draw on our crumbling economy. These companies want consumers to know “Hey, man. We’re hurting, too. Doesn’t this suck, having no money. But we’re here for you. Want a free pizza? It’s the least we can do. Tell your friends.”
Then there’s Dove.
Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty supersedes traditional advertising, with the stated intention “to serve as a starting point for societal change and act as a catalyst for widening the definition and discussion of beauty.” The response has been tremendous, and effective: Dove’s profits reportedly increased 600 percent in the first two months of the campaign. In their defense, they’ve done so with a positive message.
So how does this correlate to writing for the Web?
It may be tricky to find the appropriate angle for every business. Beauty products are easy, but what if you manufacture spray paint; how do you introduce spray paint in a way that invokes an emotional response from your audience? What’s more: how do you sneak logic into that same piece to ensure justification exists to back up emotion?
Oh, it can be done.
Little Jimmy Pratt looked forward to his town’s annual soap box derby every summer. Since the age of 7, Jimmy and his father planned during the fall and winter to build a better, speedier car, working tirelessly in the garage as spring thaw uncovered hope that this year would be Jimmy’s year.
They worked together during those times, passing tools back and forth, assembling the car, and adding the finishing touches. Every year, Jimmy would watch as his father carefully placed the stencil along the side of the car, pointed alongside the garage wall, and asked Jimmy the same question he asked every year.
“What’ll it be this year?” Jimmy would turn to the wall, where on a shelf there stood 20 or 30 cans of spray paint, all bearing the neat “Jay” name in perfect script. Throughout the planning, the building, and the racing, picking the color was Jimmy’s favorite part of the whole year. Red, blue, yellow, or green, the color could make all the difference.
It was in his twelfth year that Jimmy took home his trophy. And twenty-five years later, Jimmy found himself helping his son build a better, speedier car. As he taped the stencil to the side of the car, glanced at the cans of “Jay” paint lined along the wall, he turned to his son; “What’ll it be this year?”
Of course, sappy sentimental stories related to father and son traditions aren’t the only recourse. Emotions vary, so too may your marketing message. It’s all about the angle.
Photo courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohadby/1259824646/
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I’ll remember that next time I am writing for the web. Good point!