Shiny Objects Marketing

These 3 Minutes on Shining Up a Brand Message Could Save You Millions!

The following are essentially lessons learned by watching dozens and dozens of clients waste millions and millions of dollars over the years by trying to do too much and accomplishing far less than they had hoped.

The Essence of Strategy is Sacrifice

There is a very important relationship between strategy and sacrifice. Strategy by definition is exclusionary.

For example in media buying, by targeting one demographic you are not reaching another. But that’s okay because you believe the demographic you are reaching will have a better ROI than the demos you are sacrificing. Segmenting the market to isolate the prospects with the most buying potential is the fundamental media strategy to maximize your media budget. So by targeting "soccer moms", should you care that you are not reaching men 18-24? Nope.

The same concept applies to creative messaging. A 30 second TV spot is exclusionary. With only 30 seconds to work with, you sacrifice saying some things so other things can be heard more clearly.

If the dominant majority of your target is focused on certain brand messaging points, do you run the risk of not motivating other buying groups by not including additional messaging? ABSOLUTELY!!! But that’s okay because you make more money focusing on the people with the most potential to buy your product.

When it Comes to 30 Second TV: LESS is MORE

Messaging strategy, in terms of copy, applies the same basic sacrifice principle. Finding the most powerful brand selling points will create the most impact. But including too many selling points will diffuse key messaging.

This concept applies primarily to a 30 second TV spot. For longer form advertising, such as a full page newspaper ad or the website, you have the luxury to include more copy because people are reading and absorbing because they have chosen to. They have chosen to invest the time to learn more about your brand. A consumer watching a TV show does not afford you the same selling experience. They are watching TV to be entertained and their mind set is different...so you are less likely to capture their full attention.

Or said another way: say only the most important things to the most important people you are trying to reach.

A “Communications Comet” has a Tail

The right messaging is like a comet—a powerful core message that has the gravitational pull to bring a trail of other key messages with it.

A “Communication Comet” is the idea that a brand should try and own a powerful concept that is strong enough to create a halo effect that will “drag” other positive associations with it.

For example, Costco owns value. Their value message also drags with it concepts like: buy today, smart shopping and the best brands for less. Apple is known for tech-simplicity which also pulls communication concepts behind it like: technologically advanced, easy to use, smart choice, state of the art, etc.

Yoshinoya, one of our clients, is focused on communicating “cooked fresh”. That pulls “great taste” and “made to order” along with it because consumers see the connectivity between the concepts. So by focusing our messaging on “cooked fresh” Yoshinoya also gets credit for “great taste” and “made to order”.

For another one our clients, GoldMax, we featured Robin Leach, TV host of “Life styles of the Rich and Famous”. Robin Leach’s endorsement of GoldMax communicates an upscale, comfortable and trustworthy selling experience to most consumers. Robin's endorsement is the core of the “Communication Comet”. Robin Leach’s celebrity has the "gravitational pull" to bring other messages to GoldMax like: category leader, successful company, and a cut above the competition.

We hope these 3 minutes helped put the shine back in your messaging.