06/3/09
Opening the door: Making the connection with your audience.
Connection with your audience. The key to any good piece of marketing communications. Everyone says that, but does anyone truly know what that means? Is anyone willing to go to the lengths necessary to know their audience as well as they have to?
Just how well do you need to know someone? First, you must start with the premise that people are cynical. More than cynical. They’re downright annoyed by you. You’re the idiot in their doorway trying to sell them something they probably don’t need and they’ve got dinner on the stove with two screaming kids. Cynical people will ignore you. Cynical people roll their eyes when you try to sell them something. Cynical people might just hate you. Most will glaze right over you.
So how do you win them over? This is where the whole art/commerce thing collides, and most advertising fails. This is when you must become half “creative magician” and half “the-best-damn-salesman-there’s-ever-been”. You need to know your audience in a way that’s scary to them. In a way that will make them pause and listen.
How do you cut through? By being observant. By listening less like ad people and more like psychologists. It’s knowing that we’re all subject to the human condition, and we’re all looking for help, sympathy, empathy, gratitude, or, when all else fails, diversion. People want to be appreciated and helped. “I know exactly what’s wrong. And I can help.” If you’re dead on, they might just open the door.
There are brands that are great at this, but the vast majority just don’t get it. In this day and age of increased cynicism, people (believe it or not) are more receptive than ever to hope and optimism. The Detroit auto companies, for example, need to do more than a soft reintroduction. They need to create a movement around the premise of rebuilding America. One that makes people fall back in love with the American spirit - not necessarily just the car or the bargain du jour.
The key is knowing the specific audience and understanding the one thing that will have them open the door. Every brand has the power to do so. Every brand.
Phire Blog