The Lincoln Project Advertising

I have been a student of brand advertising for more than 35 years. I was involved with Hallmark's award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame commercials. And, as a consultant, I have advised more than 100 brands on their advertising. Throughout my career, I have seen more bad advertising than good advertising. And, for decades, I have been fascinated by political advertising.

I think many marketing professionals would agree with me that Republicans have always been better at labels, soundbites, slogans and advertising than Democrats have. Perhaps, this is because they are a more business-focused political party or perhaps it is because they have always tried to appeal to the reptilian brain more than the cerebral cortex. And, that is not a slam. Marketers know that most decisions are emotional decisions, not rational ones.

Which brings me to The Lincoln Project's advertising. The Lincoln Project, created by a group of conservatives, is aimed at drawing Republicans away from Donald Trump. Simply put, I think these ads are brilliant - the best I have seen in some time. Each ad focuses on one thing that makes Donald Trump seem pathetic, repulsive or weak. They play into people's fears and the images and symbolism are carefully selected as are the cinematographic styles, camera angles, framing, common graphic elements, hues and associated music. Rather than talking about each ad and what I like about it, I would refer you to The Lincoln Project's YouTube subscription page, which is here. It features all of their ads.

Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, a Donald Trump fan or a Donald Trump detractor, if you are a student of advertising, you should watch these ads, analyze these ads, think about how they make you feel, and figure out what elements in each of the ads make them powerful and compelling. As you view the ads, identify the elements that are common across most or all of them. And identify the choices they are asking the viewer to make.

My hat is off to the people who created these ads. I think they are brilliant. And I don't often say that.

One other thing is worth mentioning, these ads are examples of repositioning someone else's brand, in this case President Trump's brand.

As an update, this Politico article by Joanna Weiss was just brought to my attention. She is saying the same thing that I am only with more detail and more examples. It is worth reading.
What the Lincoln Project Ad Makers Get About Voters (and What Dems Don’t)

Great Television Ads

While I mostly focus this blog on brand and marketing strategy, today I would like to share some of my favorite television ads. 

The first one that comes to mind is the Chase ad - two confident retirees prepare for their retirement. It has real breakthrough value with its cute pet pig, distinctive music and mod couple. Here it is.

Another set of ads, which are now completed, are Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World commercials. Here, he is embarking on his final adventure. Adios Amigo. Stay thirsty my friends.

And, of course, there are GEICO's gecko ads, like this one here.

Or, there are the whole series of Dove's real beauty ads. This one is entitled Change One Thing. It is about how girls perceive themselves.

When I was at Hallmark, we ran some wonderful ads that we played during Hallmark Hall of Fame programing. While vintage, this one is one of my favorites - Mrs. LaGow's Gift. Notice the signature piano music and its role in setting the tone of the ad.

Nothing beats a well crafted ad that breaks through the clutter, draws one in, involves one emotionally and powerfully makes the key point on behalf of the brand. 

Successful Advertising Approaches

Here is a list of effective general advertising techniques:

• Always dramatize your brand’s most important benefit.
• Create simple ads—they are usually more powerful.
• Create copy in smaller chunks (sentences, paragraphs, etc).
• Use natural and “real life” writing or dialogue.
• Subtly tap into people’s fears and anxieties.

Here are some print advertising techniques that have proved to be effective:

• Try to evoke the reader’s curiosity. Begin by asking a provocative question and/or feature an image that piques the reader’s curiosity.
• Put quotes around your headlines.
• Romance/dramatize your product or service.
• Try to trigger multiple senses; use words that help people feel, hear, smell, and taste your product.
• Tell a story.
• Communicate “news.”
• Provide information that is useful to the reader.
• Always write in the present tense.
• Be as specific as possible.
• Include customer testimonials (they should seem natural, not scripted or polished).
• Know how readers read (from right to left, top to bottom in the United States) and place your headlines, illustrations, captions, and copy accordingly. (In his book Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, Roy H. Williams indicates that savvy photographers and graphic artists have known for some time that there is a spot on a piece of artwork to which the eye is irresistibly drawn, roughly between the middle and upper right corner of the artwork.)
• Use white space to focus the reader’s attention on something important.
• Use words that sell: at last, now, new, introducing, announcing, finally, limited, save, free, win, easy, guarantee, breakthrough, wanted, etc. (Keep in mind that as consumers become more sophisticated and savvy, there may be instances where these words might be clichés or overused and thus may not be as effective.)
• Avoid metaphors, analogies, puns, double entendres, “insider” references, and other nonstraightforward language. Alliteration is sometimes effective.
• Avoid jargon, dialect, acronyms, and model numbers, especially in headlines.

Here are some successful approaches to television advertisements:

• Company leader as brand spokesperson. Examples are Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, Dave Thomas of Wendy’s, John Schnatter of Papa John’s, and Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams brand).
• Interesting character as brand spokesperson (Mr. Whipple for Charmin).
• Customer testimonial.
• Visualization of the brand benefit and/or the “reason why.”
• Product demonstration (demonstrating product usage and showing brand benefit).
• Torture test (Timex “Takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’”).
• Problem-solution.
• Before-after. To some large degree, advertising sells the hope of an improved future with the use of a particular brand of product or service. Before-after advertising reinforces this hope.
• Competitive comparison. Although it is usually not wise to identify the competitive brand by name, a special case would be the comparison to premium brand(s). However, this can lead to greater category price sensitivity.
• Slice-of-life vignette (telling a story about the benefits of the brand).
• Presenter/”talking head” (in which a person attempts to persuade the viewer about the benefits of the brand).

© 2015 Brad VanAuken. Reprinted from Brand Aid, second edition, available here.

Creativity versus Functionality

Whether one is creating a brand name, a tagline, an elevator speech or an advertising campaign, one must balance the need to clearly communicate the brand's unique and compelling promise with the need to break through communication clutter with something eloquent, humorous, unexpected, outrageous or otherwise memorable. 

Effective advertising will accomplish both of these. An elevator speech needs to do at least the first, but it would be nice if it could do the second as well. It is more difficult for a brand name to do both, but some do (such as Amazon.com). Taglines are tricker. I have encountered many clients who would rather have a "catchy" tagline that is off strategy or that doesn't say much than a tagline that clearly communicates the brand's unique and compelling promise but in an unexciting way. Creatives at marketing agencies tend to agree on this point. I do not. While it is preferable to develop a tagline that accomplishes both, in the end, I want the tagline that clearly communicates why I should choose the brand over its competitive alternatives. 

This really gets down to the question of whether marketing communication needs to be functional or creative and memorable. Again, ideally it needs to be both. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to accomplish both. When it is, creatives and clients tend to go with the option that is creative but not functional. This is a mistake. Hold out for both.

Yes, you want the communication to break through the clutter and to be memorable, but it had better be linked to the brand in question and it should have communicated why one should love the brand and why he or she should be willing to spend money to use it.

Did You Know?

Psychologist Erich Dichter found that consumers are more apt to relax and accept advertiser recommendations when the tone is that of a friend or an unbiased authority.

(Source: Emanuel Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing. New York:

Doubleday, 2000, p. 210.)

There is a direct correlation between advertising spending, brand awareness, and market share (given that the brand’s distribution is equal to that of other brands in the category and consumers like the brand’s point of difference). In fact, James Gregory and the Corporate Branding Partnership (and others) have linked advertising spending to increases in sales, earnings, market share, and stock price.

A brand’s perceived quality increases with increases in advertising impressions, regardless of message.

Research has shown that the media environment affects advertising claims. For instance, quality claims are more effective on elite or prestigious websites because people associate the claim with the media environment.

(Source: Dean Donaldson, “Location Matters: How Ad Environments Affect Performance,” Advertising

Age, December 10, 2009, adage.com/article/digitalnext/location-matters-ad-environments-affectperformance/

140980/.)

Aspirational, upscale, and high status brands have the potential to alienate customers who lack confidence. While these customers might admire these brands, they don’t feel comfortable using them. Building warmth, humor, and less formality into the brands to make them more approachable helps overcome this problem.

(Source: Max Blackston, “Observations: Building Brand Equity by Managing the Brand’s

Relationships,” Journal of Advertising Research 32, no. 3, May/June 1992, pp. 79−83.)

Risk taking, innovation, breaking industry rules, products that outperform, and services that exceed customer expectations strongly contribute to brand vitality. “Adequate,” “suffice,” and “good enough” are not a part of a vital brand’s vocabulary.

The products and services that achieve the most “buzz” and that benefit the most from buzz are innovative, leading edge, and of superior quality—often creating a new standard for customer experience.

The typical No. 1 brand is worth 10 percent more than the No. 2 brand to consumers (range: zero percent to 35 percent).

© 2015 Brad VanAuken, excerpted from Brand Aid, second edition, available here.

Unusual Advertising Media

Companies have used everything from sidewalks (ads written in chalk), walls above men’s room urinals, and posters on bulletin boards, to the sides of trucks and buses, athlete’s clothes, and crop art (images created by plowing fields in certain patterns). A German company is now printing advertising messages on toilet paper. Evian funded the repair of a run-down pool in London in return for featuring its brand’s identity in the pool’s tile design, which could be seen by people flying into and out of nearby Heathrow Airport. Procter & Gamble placed upscale porta-potties (air-conditioned, with hardwood floors and aromatherapy candles) at state fairs to reinforce the luxury of its Charmin toilet paper.

©  2015 Brad VanAuken

Excerpted from Chapter 10, Nontraditional Marketing Approaches that Work in Brand Aid, second edition. This chapter lists more than sixty different types of nontraditional marketing approaches with hundreds of examples.

Click here to order your copy of the book.

The Care and Feeding of Advertising Agencies

The care and feeding of advertising agencies, or how to get the most out of your advertising agency.

• Give them clear assignments with clear deliverables. (Write a well-defined “agency
• brief”)
• Tell them that you expect their best work.
• Treat them with respect.
• Expose them to your customers and all of your customer research.
• Get out of their way. Don’t micromanage them.
• Run internal “interference” for them. Don’t let internal review and approval
• processes adulterate their product.
• Pay them fairly for their work.
• Praise them when they do good work.

(c) 2014 by Brad VanAuken, excerpted from Brand Aid, second edition