the entrance
Our world today is completely different compared to the early years of industrialism or even compared to just ten fifteen years ago. Our modern society is more or less fully transparent and consumers are in control. To be successful today, you need a genuine interest in listening to them and understanding their needs by implementing engaged, humble, and respectful conversations. Not polluting the world with another screaming ad campaign. As a reminder, a brief summary of the David Report number 4 – The cycle of credibility:
“Today, advertising is a questionable endeavor both to generate recognition and to build a brand. The academic elite and business professionals are in doubt about how to go about it. It’s all about building a trustworthy and trustworthy association with your (future) customers.” To become part of their mind, so to speak. And when most people are sick and tired of all the hype everywhere, there must be a better way to communicate with them, right?
In response to the current situation we gave the advice to take a walk in the Credibility Loop. We are convinced that if a product can speak for itself through its unique design, personality and soul, it will be by far the best and least expensive way to communicate it.
A new world order.
For a couple of decades it has gone out of fashion to talk about products and services. According to marketers, advertising has been the great solution to everything.
Advertising has been king. But it’s gone. We have a new world order where online communities like YouTube and MySpace will be in command as the new message carrier. A recent example is Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” short film, which generated better buzz for DR5 mincooper on YouTube than it did through a multi-dollar thirty-second ad during the Superbowl. We would like to bring the scope back to the very core of brand delivery, which is the products and services. The very heart or DNA of a brand, so to speak. This is where most of the credibility lies. And by developing and improving the core, you can achieve a competitive advantage in an ever-changing world. Still, in most cases the core is blurred by all the hype that surrounds pretty much everything we buy but adds nothing to the world. It’s just a lacquer on top. It is only there to market the product. It’s like the skin of an orange. Something you peel off and throw away when you search for the good that’s inside.
Perhaps there are other, more creative methods of making products attractive to consumers instead of spending more and more money on traditional advertising? We think so. What would happen if a company took part (or a lot) of the advertising and communication budget and used it on design and innovation?
Will that help them increase attraction and make a product more desirable? Will they be able to make it more particular and necessary? Of course, according to us.
Advertising cannot change the word. Design and innovation can!
ATL – BTL – and now……….. CTP
Years ago the Jackson Five played with figures and lyrics in the ABC song, “ABC, 123, baby, you and me!” In an easy way they communicated the way forward: After A comes B and after B comes C.
The discussion about how to communicate is intense. Disputes about the use of ATL and/or BTL instruments for a communication campaign. ATL stands for Above-The-Line using mass media like TV ads, print ads, and radio campaigns. Today ATL has the lion’s share of marketing investments, even if it is emotionally poor. BTL or Below-the-Line is the umbrella term for more creative methods like public relations, events, and word of mouth. A common denominator for ATL is the PUSH strategy. As a consumer, you can’t really decide if you’d like to be the recipient of DR5shuffle or not. Because it’s everywhere. We doubt this is a smart strategy when we’re in the midst of a strong and rapid shift from vendors to consumers. Today consumers are in control. They are sick and tired of all the fuss out there. They want to find relevant information for themselves. And this from credible sources (advertising no longer counts as such…). It is given today that it is the consumers who “own” your brand. At least if you think that the perception of your brand in the mind of the target audience is paramount. If we hold this true, isn’t it strange that so many companies still don’t listen to their customers’ wishes?
We recommend a PULL strategy that attracts the customer and pulls him towards the product or service like a fly towards sugar. PULL is driven by credibility. An example (and the best?) of a credible PULL strategy is a marketing and communication strategy that we have called Communication Through the Product (CTP).
Communication Through the Product (CTP) is all about using your budget for design and innovation instead of trying to hide poor products behind a bunch of expensive advertising. It’s about letting the products speak for themselves instead of building expensive communication around them and making the products their own ambassadors by adding elements that communicate the brand identity while drawing people to them. .
What makes a product speak for itself then? We believe it has to do with providing experiences and creating a sense of belonging. Enabling products to solve problems, deliver benefits, and evoke meaning. They will be able to achieve this by offering sensory stimulation and providing cognitive adventures.
Be sensitive to what the consumer thinks and feels. Create attraction and they will search, find and willingly accept your products. We say: be proactive, make a difference and take control of the situation. Skip A and B and go straight to C, the push core. Try Communication Through Product (CTP), you’ll like it.
The drop metaphor
A drop is our metaphor for communication through the product (CTP). Like rings in the water, the product (and the brand) reaches consumers. The experience is stronger closer to the center and fades the further away you go.
The closer to the core, the more reliable results you will achieve in your communication efforts. By using Communication Through the Product (CTP), you’ll be able to work from the inside out with the necessary humanistic ingredients in focus, not just putting a little varnish on the surface.
The closer you get to the core, the greater the sensory experiences. ATL makes you see and hear, BTL tickles a little more, but communication through the product (CTP) also fully evokes taste, touch and smell. You will get a subconscious and intuitive feeling of something real and believable, your sixth sense! Through-the-product communication (CTP) is actually the best sensory marketing strategy out there.
When starting communication with the products themselves, or in their logical proximity, they will have a PULL factor incorporated from the beginning that attracts consumers without a large advertising campaign. This is because the product itself is substantially the best messenger you can get.
Design, innovation and creativity are the key ingredients that build the unique DNA of communication through the product (CTP). Communication through the product (CTP) is marketing 2.0.
Save and earn money using CTP
Today, in general, the media budget compared to the investment in design and innovation is divided approximately like this: 70 percent ATL, 25 percent BTL and 5 percent design and innovation. How is it possible to defend a strategy that “wastes” almost 3/4 on questionable advertising?
We mean that the total amount spent will decrease by investing more resources in design and innovation. Because by pushing the core, less money will be needed for ATL and/or in a sense BTL activities (even if we think that BTL is a good transmitter because it is interpersonal and experiential). The estimated numbers in the models below tell us that you could save around 20 percent of spending, and just as importantly, it will greatly increase the level of credibility.
Our examples exclude costs of production, distribution and administration, etc. We only count the cost of communication plus design and innovation. Our figures are presented in broad strokes and should be seen as experimental and alternative thinking. But if this is the reality, can you afford not to take a ride in the Credibility Loop? And best of all, being able to make a big difference?
Liquidation – in six logical steps
1. Advertising has lost its credibility.
2. Everyone is talking about how to communicate in a new way.
3. We say – go to the very core – the product or service and communicate through it. It is the best way to build a credible brand.
4. Use design, creativity and innovation to make products and services relevant enough to attract the target group and they will find it willingly.
5. You’ll save money because Communication Through the Product (CTP) is the most cost-effective communication solution out there! This really attracts business men/women!
6. As a bonus, you will be able to make a difference. This really appeals to consumers today!
There she is, our supermodel, who will hopefully make business executives think twice before buying another expensive ad campaign. Communication through the product (CTP) is a model to use to get more attention, more sales and more credibility for less investment. It sounds too good to be true!