Promoting Nonsense: The Dumbing Down of Marketing

The  most  important  thing  about  a  point  of  view  is  to  have  one.  

Simply  Wrong  Recently  I  joined  an  interes>ng  group  for  lunch.  Two  of  the  folks  were  the  founders  of  a  start-­‐up  and  the  other  two  represented  an  adver>sing  agency.  I  was  present  to  act  as  a  bridge  having  been  charged  with  ar>cula>ng  the  new  en>ty’s  brand.  For  the  next  ninety  minutes  I  was  highly  amused  as  a  verbal  tennis  match  took  place  between  my  four  lunch  mates.  At  the  end,  I  was  more  confused  by  the  purpose  of  the  new  venture  than  when  I  first  sat  down  and  said  as  much.    One  of  the  adver>sing  professionals  suggested  the  founders  provide  clarity  by  trea>ng  us  to  a  “30  second  elevator  pitch”.  What  followed  was  an  ini>ally  impressive  string  of  words  that  when  absorbed  amounted  to  a  dense,  jargon-­‐laden   paragraph   of   nonsense.   I   am   not   sure   who   chuckled   first   but   it   prompted   everyone   to   join   in.   We   all  recognized  the  absurdity  of  the  exercise.    It  made  me  think  about   the   ‘elevator  pitch’  concept  and  the  broader,  more  troubling  trend  of  simplifying  almost  everything  these  days.  In  business  this  seems  to  have  started  in  adver>sing  with  radio  and  television  adver>sement  lengths.  The  thought  being,  if  you  could  not  get  your  message  across  quickly  there  was  something  dreadfully  wrong  with  what  you  were  selling  and  you  would  never  engage  the  consumer.    All  of  this  began  with  Rosser  Reeves.  The  chairman  of  the  Ted  Bates  Agency  invented  the  Unique  Selling  Proposi>on  at  the  >me  television  first  became  a  force  in  society.  This  proposi>on  most  oRen  took  the  form  of  a  tagline  that  fit  short   adver>sing   lengths.   Reeves   created   campaigns   for   Bic   pens,   Minute   Maid   orange   juice   and   Colgate  toothpaste.  His  line  for  M&M’s,  “"melts  in  your  mouth,  not  in  your  hand."  is  an  undeniable  success  and  classic.                                                  Now   brief,   staccato-­‐like   messaging   is   the   norm   in   communica>ons.   The   volume   of   communica>ons   people   are  subjected  to  and  the  range  of   technologies   that  carry   them  are  par>ally   to  blame.  People’s  aYen>on  spans  have  drama>cally   shortened   as   a   result.   A   recent   Pew   Internet   study   in   the   United   States   suggests   that   the   current  genera>on  of  Internet  consumers  live  in  a  world  of  "instant  gra>fica>on  and  quick  fixes"  which  leads  to  a  "loss  of  pa>ence  and  a  lack  of  deep  thinking”.  

2  

Our   growing   inaYen>veness   is   nothing   new.   In   1977  Nobel-­‐winning   economist   Herbert   Simon   wrote   about  the   coming   informa>on-­‐rich   world   and   warned   that  what   informa>on   consumes   is   “the   aYen>on   of   its  recipients.   Hence   a   wealth   of   informa>on   creates   a  poverty   of   aYen>on.”   The   U.S.   Na>onal   Library   of  Medicine   reported   that   the   average   aYen>on   span   in  2000   was   12-­‐seconds   and   in   2013   that   had   been  reduced  to  just  8-­‐seconds.      We  are  training  ourselves  to  think  and  absorb  only  short  thoughts.  Publica>ons  are  now  laden  with  how-­‐to’s  and  top   ten   lists,   news   is   an   assortment   of   soundbites   and  online  videos  are  missed   if  one  blinks.  AdmiYedly,   they  may   compel   us   to   seek   further   informa>on   but   more  oRen   they  are  unsa>sfying  and  we  driR  or   surf  over   to  another   flee>ng   topic   soon   forgeang  what  we   set   out  to   accomplish   in   the   first   place.   William   A.   Henry   III,  cultural   cri>c   and   author,   bemoaned   this   deepening  state   in   his   book,   In   Defense   of   Eli>sm,   “even   cri>cal  books   about   ideas   are   expected   to   be   prescrip>ve,   to  conclude   with   simple,   step-­‐by-­‐step   solu>ons   to  whatever  crisis  they  discuss.  Reading  itself  is  becoming  a  way  out  of  thinking.”    This  why  I  believe  no>ons  like  K.I.S.S.  or  “keep  it  simple  stupid”  are  themselves  unwise  when  applied  universally.  Henry  said,  “In  the  modern  world,  the  cruelest  thing  that  you  can  do  to  people  is  to  make  them  ashamed  of  their  complexity.”  More   and  more   I  work  with   clients   to   tell  their  complex  stories  richly.  I  am  not  sugges>ng  it  works  for  all  and  for  everything  but  I  am  discovering  that  many  audiences  of  brands  are  craving  deeper  content  to  make  beYer   decisions   and   create   stronger   connec>ons.   Yet,  most  marketers  and  marke>ng  are  going  in  the  opposite  direc>on.  

3  

This  why  I  believe  no>ons  like  K.I.S.S.  or  “keep  it  simple  stupid”  are  themselves  unwise  when  applied  universally.  Henry  said,  “In  the  modern  world,  the  cruelest  thing  that  you  can  do  to  people  is  to  make  them  ashamed  of  their  complexity.”  More   and  more   I  work  with   clients   to   tell  their  complex  stories  richly.  I  am  not  sugges>ng  it  works  for  all  and  for  everything  but  I  am  discovering  that  many  audiences  of  brands  are  craving  deeper  content  to  make  beYer   decisions   and   create   stronger   connec>ons.   Yet,  most  marketers  and  marke>ng  are  going  in  the  opposite  direc>on.  

Make  It  Short  In  the  face  of  shorter  aYen>on  spans  marketers  logically,  somewhat   ironically,   and   hopefully   not   irreversibly,  communicate   ever   shorter   and   ever   simpler   messages.  The  once  sacrosanct  30-­‐second  commercial  spot  is  losing  ground   to   15-­‐second   commercials.   Nielsen   Neuro,   the  researcher’s  consumer  neuroscience  data  arm,  suggests  that  15-­‐second  commercials  are  just  as  effec>ve  or  even  more  effec>ve  than  longer  formats.  “Shorter  ads  can  be  highly   emo>onally   engaging   and   very   effec>ve   at  ac>va>ng   our   memory   networks,”   said   Senior   Vice  President   at   Nielsen   Neuro   Blake   Burrus.   ”And,   they  oRen   require   less   aYen>on   to   process   them.”  Adver>sers   have   noted   this   as   the   percentage   of   15-­‐second   commercials   grew   to   41%   in   2013   while   all  others  decreased.    For  years   I   subscribed   to   the  shorter-­‐is-­‐beYer  approach  in   my   work   in   branding,   marke>ng   and   adver>sing.   I  jus>fied   the   outputs   as   beau>fully   succinct,   crea>ve  expressions  of  complex  proposi>ons.  What  I  have  come  to   realize   is   we   should   actually   be   sharing   and  celebra>ng   complexity.   Why?   Because   so   much   of   the  effort  to  simplify  the  complex  only  serves  to  dumb  down  the  beauty  of   the  original   idea  or   the  value  proposi>on  of  a  product  or  service.      Alfred   North   Whitehead,   the   mathema>cian   and  philosopher,   suggested   the   pursuit   of   simplicity   was  noble   but   it   should   be   distrusted.   He   feared   that   we  would  err  by  dismissing  or  glossing  over  the  intricate  and  not   easily   explained.   One   of   his   lesser   known  observa>ons  is  that  people  “think  in  generali>es,  but  we  live   in   detail.”   It   is   actually   the   detail   that   provides  insight   and   illumina>on   in   marke>ng   and   goes   a   long  way   to   engage   consumers,   ini>ate   a   dialogue   and  provide  value  in  a  purchase  decision.    This  is  an  opportunity  to  differen>ate.  Instead  of  living  in  the  mindset   of   the   30-­‐second  elevator   pitch  or   the   15-­‐second   commercial   brands   need   to   engage   with   their  audiences   using   thorough   and   compelling   stories.  Google’s   publica>on,   Think   Insights,   is   a   fer>le  outpouring   of   world   changing   ideas   that   respects   the  reader’s   intelligence.  HSBC  has  never   feared   the  use  of  long-­‐form   communica>ons.   The   financial   ins>tu>on’s  latest   campaign   states,   “In   the   future,   there  will   be   no  markets  leR  wai>ng  to  emerge”,  does  not  shy  away  from  topics   most   work   hard   to   avoid.   They   compel  prospec>ve  clients  with  fact  and  insights,  “By  2050,  19  of  the  30  largest  economies  will  be  in  countries  we  now  call  ‘emerging’.   HSBC’s   interna>onal   network   can   help   you  discover   new   markets   wherever   they   emerge   next.  There’s  a  new  world  out  there.”  

4  

Unfortunately,  mindless  simplifica>on  con>nues  to  be  the  rule.  The  ‘elevator  pitch’  is  employed  widely  with  pundits  sugges>ng  it  can  land  you  a  job,  gain  customers,  aYract  talent  to  your  business,  spark  media  aYen>on,  and  create  buzz  for  whatever  you  are  doing.  I  found  a  scholarly  ar>cle  that  suggested  these  mini-­‐pitches  must  last  only  30-­‐seconds,  contain  no  more  than  80-­‐90  words  and  run  8-­‐10  lines.  One  incongruous  instruc>onal  video  on  YouTube  takes  twenty  minutes  to  describe  the  half-­‐minute  process  with  the  obvious  irony  lost  on  the  presenter.  Disappoin>ngly,  Harvard  Business  Review  posted  a  blog  in  February,  2014  >tled,  The  Art  of  CraRing  a  15-­‐Word  Strategy  Statement.      Thirty  seconds  is  great  if  you  want  to  run  200  meters  or  wish  to  watch  five  Vine  videos.  Please  insert  your  own  joke  here  about  thirty  seconds  and  lovemaking.  The  real  point  is  that  complex  ideas  should  not  be  boiled  down  to  irrelevance.  We  need  to  end  our  aYachment  to  slogans  and  buzzwords  that  address  complexity  without  unraveling  it.  Our  world  is  undeniably  complex  and  we  do  it  a  disservice  by  sugges>ng  anything  different.  Albert  Einstein  captured  this  universal  tension  by  saying,  “Everything  should  be  made  as  simple  as  possible,  but  not  simpler.”                                              Make  It  Fast  A  few  years  back  when  The  Wall  Street  Journal  redesigned  using  color  and  added  new  sec>ons  including  the  Weekend  Journal  and  Personal  Journal,  a  colleague  shared  her  fear  that  it  was  going  the  way  of  USA  Today.  Personally,  I  thought  the  design  aYrac>ve  and  layout  invi>ng.  My  concern  was  with  the  content  and  the  length  of  the  wriYen  work.  That  concern  has  only  grown  since.  In  the  past  fiReen  years,  news  and  informa>on  has  been  beaten,  shrunk,  diced,  and  sliced  into  bite-­‐sized  easily  diges>ble  trifle.  The  masses  accept  headlines  and  top  ten  lists  like  they  are  gospel  without  a  proper  assessment  of  facts,  logic,  and  argument.  Nor  do  they  scru>nize  the  source.  Once  author  credibility  was  inviolable  but  sadly  it  is  no  longer.  Even  more  sadly  is  how  quickly  and  widely  this  dross  is  shared  through  social  media.    My  own  fear  is  that  The  Economist  will  dumb  down  its  content.  Every  >me  I  read  that  publica>on  I  am  reminded  that  learning  and  discovery  are  meant  to  be  arduous.  The  journey  is  the  des>na>on.  If  you  are  handed  the  answers  what  have  you  possibly  learned?  I  love  reading  the  magazine  because  it  lays  out  both  sides  of  an  issue  in  detail  and,  though  it  is  not  en>rely  objec>ve,  it  allows  the  reader  to  come  to  their  own  conclusion.  Clever  adver>sing  has  long  supported  The  Economist  claim  that  by  reading  it  you  will  become  sharper  and  smarter.  Poster  campaigns  through  the  years  have  had  fun  with  that  no>on,  “In  opinion  polls,  100%  of  Economist  readers  had  one.”,  “Not  all  mind  expanding  substances  are  illegal.”,  and  “Don’t  make  the  same  mistake  once.  

5  

At   the   2014   Canadian   Marke>ng   Associa>on   Na>onal   Conven>on   I   presented   a   keynote   on   the   sorry   state   of   cri>cal  thinking.  I  noted  that  something  unfortunate  happened  in  the  last  ten  to  fiReen  years.  In  business  and  in  marke>ng,  faster  and  simpler  became  associated  with  beYer.  That  is  some  of  the  most  flawed  thinking  of  our  recent  >mes.  George  Bernard  Shaw  said  it  best,  “For  every  complex  problem  there  is  a  simple  solu>on  that  is  wrong.”      We   face  more   risks   and   trade-­‐offs   in  making   decisions   in   an   ever-­‐accelera>ng  world.   ORen  we   are   forced   to  move   fast  regardless  of  a  desire  to  be  more  deliberate  and  measured.  That  has  made  it  easy  to  use  speed  as  an  excuse  for  avoiding  the  cri>cal   thinking   that   produces   highly   differen>ated   and   clever   business   and  marke>ng   strategies.   Behind   every   concept,  every  idea  and  every  challenge  there  is  complexity.  We  lose  the  magic  every  >me  we  aYempt  to  over  simplify.    A  Medium  Message  The   immediacy   of   available   mediums   now   influence   the   quality   of   marke>ng.   It   is   almost   eerie   how  much   of   this   was  forecast   by  Marshall  McLuhan  whose   famous   line,   “The  medium   is   the  message”,   is  more   relevant   than   ever.   The  mad  communica>ons  thinker  seemingly  addressed  the  issue  of  social  media  before  it  even  existed  when  he  said,  “We  shape  our  tools  and  aRerwards  our  tools  shape  us.”  Today  the  format  of  social  media  is  itself  an  expression  regardless  of  the  content  it  conveys.  Marketers  are  not  only  dumbing  down  messages  they  subs>tute  technology  for  real  connec>on.    Marketers  now  have  an  incredible  array  of  communica>on  tools  at  their  disposal.  The  op>ons  are  analogous  to  a  golf  bag  full  of   clubs.  Unfortunately,  oRen  all  of   the  clubs  are  used   for   the   same  shot.  These  op>ons  may  confuse   the   intent  and  richness   of   the   original  message.   I   change   the   tone,   language   and   cadence   of   a   piece   of  wri>ng   to   fit   the   differences   in  format   and   audiences  of   TwiYer,   Facebook,   LinkedIn,   Tumblr   and  my  own  blog   (thank   you   social  media   for   all   the   extra  work).  The  tools  are  indeed  shaping  us.    Swystun  Communica>ons  is  fond  of  saying,  “Every  brand  is  a  story.  Make  yours  a  bestseller.”  There  are  many  ways  to  tell  a  story  with  a  host  of  variables  including  brevity.  My  fear  is  that  in  the  quest  for  the  short,  clever  and  pithy  we  will  forget  to  credit  our  audiences  with  intelligence.  Marke>ng  stories  exist  to  help  consumers  make  a  more  informed  purchase.  We  run  the  risk  of  aliena>ng  customers  who  are  more  than  willing  and  able  to  take  the  >me,  absorb  and  engage  with  smart  and  rich  stories.  Call  me  stupid  but  I  plan  to  go  down  figh>ng  against  the  dumbing  down  of  marke>ng.  

6  

Jeff  Swystun  President  and    

Chief  Marke>ng  Officer  416.471.4655