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    proof

    Fact vs. Proof.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    After a couple, two, tree(sic) years in advertising, marketing and branding I tethered my career to a single word I believe to be the bedrock of good selling: proof.  Today we are awash in facts. And data. And sadly, fake facts and misrepresented data. Prior to the new political environment, a huge contributor to this blight was and continues to be the internet – where you can say just about anything and get away with it.

    As someone who grew up in an advertising world where TV stations asked for storyboards to be sent  to “Standards and Practices” for verification, truth actually reigned. Not today. People can say anything, so long as they appear to have conviction.

    Today, facts are malleable. But Proof isn’t. When I started pontificating about proof years ago it was because I felt it to be a competitive advantage to actually say something then give people a reason to believe it. “Reason to believe” is a fairly common creative brief heading. Most advertising and marketing these days is claim-heavy and proof-light. So, the logic went, if I can dial up proof in branding — in demonstrations of a brand claim (e.g., Coke is refreshment) — I can get greater ballast in consumers’ minds.

    It’s not enough to find a fact and publicize it. “Geico can save you 15% on your insurance.” You have to prove it. Proof makes the branding world go ‘round.  It also injects science into marketing. The brain requires proof. Brands require poof.

    For examples of proof from within your business category write Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com

    McPeace.

     

     

    Proof Or Truth.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    At McCann-Erickson, a huge and venerable global ad agency, the tagline is Truth Well Told.  Lots of agencies make up taglines — more like ad lines — but few have them for their own brands. Truth Well Told is one of the better ones.  Back when invented, the McCann shop stewards understood advertising would be rife with untruths and near truths.  The word truth is bandied about a good deal by planners (strategists) today. I’ll let you decide what the word means along with it nuances but, certainly, there is nothing wrong with hanging you marketing laundry on a truth.

    At What’s The Idea? we are in the brand strategy business. Not the ad business.  In this world one must convince consumers a brand is better. Songs are nice, so are pretty pictures. Funny is good too. But to convince a consumer your product is better you have to prove it. It’s not good enough to just say it.  This is where advertising and much brand strategy falls short. Planners’ day jobs are to dig for insights. Insights that make marketing communications more personally motivating and unique.  But those insights, which may be truths, aren’t always proofs. They may be stimulating for creative teams, yet might not create muscle memory around a brand position. That’s the job of proof.

    I often tell clients brand strategy is about finding that business-winning claim then proving it every day. That’s the job of the planner, the brand manager, the marketer and the ad agencies.

    There are a lot of truths out there in the world. But not all truths, which may or may not capture the attention of consumers, will sell your product. That’s the job of proof.  If you would like examples of how proof and proof planks are organized into real brand strategies, write Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com

    Peace.

     

     

    Finitie-osity.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Marketing and advertising would be much better if they focused solely on proof.  Proof of value. Demonstration of value. Honestly, you needn’t even be best-in-class, you just need to support your value claim.  But 90% of advertising today tells consumers what to believe but doesn’t show it.   

    There was a time when you could sing your product’s praises and it sold. That was the era of “We’re here” advertising.  If you were simply top-of- mind, you won.  It’s a strategy Geico still employs. But ladies and gentlemen, we live in an era of analytics. Of measurement. Of Finite-osity.  There are ways to prove a claim. 

    Analytics are the friend of proof. 

    If you say you are the best-selling dishwasher detergent, there’s data to prove it.  If you say you are the hotdog eating champ of Brooklyn, there’s a contest. Most snow in Utah? NOAA measuring stick. But for some reason we still prefer to sing the praises of our products.

    My job as a brand planner/brand strategist is to rid the business of this horrid and wasteful selling practice. My job is to organize product and service values into groups of proof which existentially (there’s that word again) reflect a product’s superiority.

    Love to show you how it works and prove how it has worked for clients.

    Write Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com

    Peace.

     

    More Science in Branding.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Yesterday I wrote about a famous ad campaign for Dawn Dishwasher Detergent and its use degreasing ducks following oil spills.  I mentioned that the key ingredient in Dawn, the one that cuts the grease, is a surfactant. (When a kid in the ad business I did advertising for Union Carbide Corporation surfactants.)

    As a brand consultant that touts proof in its strategy framework, you can expect I would lock on to surfactants as the proof of grease cutting. A surfactant being defined by Wikipedia as: “Compounds that lower the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or between a liquid and a solid.” But the fact is, in the Dawn commercials there was no mention of surfactants. Likely, there were not even scrubbing bubbles diagrams or animations about surface tensions being broken down. Someone decided to remove the science from the spots. Just greasy ducklings then clean, happy ducklings for our viewing pleasure.

    As smart and creative as those spots were, there was a missed opportunity to educate the dishwashing public about the solution (pun intended). When someone asks why Dawn degreases better than other competitors, a reason why is always a good thing to convey.

    Science is the new black. And it will only continue to get stronger…ahem.

    Peace.

     

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