Advertising is a lot like your first day at a new school, or job, or environment. People don’t know anything about you, so you are going to be immediately judged by your appearance, be it your clothes, or hair, or stature, or in this case, your headline, typeface, or placement.
I figure this is why there is so much banal advertising out there. Most people, and brands, are quite conservative, so they don’t want to do anything outrageous on the first day of school and get branded as something they might not have the mojo to maintain.
So they blend in. That’s the suit and tie of the business meeting, the jeans and sneakers of the schoolyard, or an ad that looks like an ad. Plain, emotionally flat, inoffensive and instantaneously forgettable.
But by not breaking through the clutter does this mean it’s a terrible branding ad? No, not really. It just means that they are making an appearance that is easy to maintain, because like at the first day of school, just showing up is half the battle. It’s absence that raises the eyebrows, and exclusion from the market.
But who wants to make friends with the most boring kid in school?
Branding is about presence. You don’t need to be outrageous or shocking to have presence. But you do have to have a certain charisma that brings people to you.
These last few posts have been general musings - you may or may not agree, my readers, but comment either way. Discussion is always good.
