If you want to sell to people you have to treat them with respect.
The public aren’t daft (no matter what some people in advertising might think). It’s pointless creating a fancy expensive campaign if you’ve built the whole thing around a falsehood that’s quickly seen through.
Rather than trying to pull the wool over the consumer’s eyes, try to look through them, see the thing about your product that people will instantly connect with…
…saying, ‘Yeah, that’s how I feel’ or ‘That’s what I do’.
When I first started working on the DIY brand Ronseal a lot of the category was happy-clappy and upbeat. That’s not the reality of DIY. It’s a nightmare, something always goes a bit wrong or is an outright disaster.
That was a real truth people reacted to. As soon as you mentioned it everyone started talking about their own DIY disaster. We used that in the work to show how Ronseal’s quality made DIY less painful and much easier. Far more engaging than promoting a dull list of product benefits.
‘Marmite, Love it or Hate it’ and ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ tap into the exact same thing.
A lot of brands want to tell their own version of reality, it’s safer and easier. But if it’s not the consumer’s real truth it’s not going to connect.
Sometimes it’s a negative you’re used to shying away from, but use it in the right way and it’s actually a positive. Just like the examples above.
If people recognise what you’re saying as real and genuine then you’re a trustworthy mate on their side. Instead of a salesperson trying to feed them a line.
In the current world, truth is even more powerful than ever.
