Do you ever feel like you’re living in a parallel world…?
A world that is similar to the one that you live in. But it doesn’t quite feel real.
Perhaps that is a good description of what we’ve all been feeling over the last few months. But it is often a pretty good description of the marketing world.
It’s a world where you have situations like these…
The hipster strategist who identifies and then brilliantly brings to life the bullseye consumer target. But doesn’t realise that this target is a sub segment of a sub segment of a sub segment. It’s so small that even if everyone in the target audience bought the product it wouldn’t cover the agency fees.
The advert that is brilliantly creative. But it is so creative that most people can’t remember which category it is for. Let alone which brand it is for.
The pack design that is dripping with semiotic meaning. But all that meaning is lost on shelf because shoppers can’t recognise the pack in the first place.
You will have examples of your own.
This is the kind of stuff that happens in the parallel marketing world.
It’s the kind of stuff that usually wins awards. The more creative you are, the more likely you are to win an award. The cleverer you are, the more likely you are to win an award.
But these are often awards for living in the marketing world not the real world.
Why are we talking about this? Well, we are approaching the end of the year. Approaching awards season. So we thought we’d come up with our own awards. We are calling them “The Insight Traction Lions”. Our version of the (slightly more famous) Cannes Lions.
They are an alternative set of awards. Awards that are firmly anchored in the real world.
A world which understands that shoppers spend far less time thinking about our categories and brands then we do. A world in which shoppers get bored much less quickly than we do. A world in which shoppers buy your product not your purpose.
Our awards honour simple, clear and effective shopper communication.
Simple. Communication that is instantly recognisable. Messaging that says less. That uses few words. Short words. Everyday language.
Clear. Communication that is really easy to process. That tells shoppers what a product is. What it does. Why it’s good.
Effective. Communication that frames choices effectively. That makes a brand the most obvious choice for shoppers to buy.
We hope these Awards honour the voices in the background. The ones who say “err…do you think we might be going a bit too far with this…?”. The ones who remind marketing teams of what they are actually selling not what they would like to be selling.
We are launching the Insight Traction Lions next week on Linked In. They will run over 4 weeks. Follow Insight Traction and you will get to see them.
Then you can see if you agree with the winners.
And the prize for the winners…
Unfortunately there is no plush awards dinner. No big gongs to hand out. No badge on your CV.
Just the quiet knowledge that you are living in the real world.
The world that shoppers live in.
Feel free to forward. Have good weekend. Speak to you in a fortnight.