Three brands built on dreams. (Doesn’t Apple look like it’s about to eat a worm named Nike?)
Plant a dream in someone’s heart and they’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. A whole mess of modern brands learned this lesson:
Apple – The dream of an ever-changing individual.
Nike – The dream of an unstoppable competitor.
Disney – The eternal dream of a child.
But somehow, a lot of charitable organizations spend a ton of time and effort doing the opposite: talking about just how bad things are.
Often, the bigger the charity or NGO, the more negative the message. Many organizations have spent decades saying we’re moments from total disaster (“doomsday clock,” I’m looking at you). I think there’s a basic fear that if you say things are actually getting better, people will stop giving. This ignores the obvious opposite: if you only say things are getting worse, it sounds like your work isn’t stopping it.
What if you sold a dream instead of a nightmare?
WWF in this case is not the World Wrestling Federation.
That’s why I was so fascinated by some photos posted on social media by Robert Colvile, a British think tank director, author, and columnist. He found a few WWF ads on the tube (British for “subway,” courtesy of the folks who call trucks lorries). What a novelty: advertising wins as things we all did together. It’s a positive message.
The WWF isn’t saying “It worked!” They’re saying “it’s working.” It’s a subtle but important difference. Having grown up with “save the whales” and Captain Planet and so on, it’s nice to know some of it might be working.
What does this mean for your business?
One of the ironclad laws of marketing is that fear of loss motivates folks more than the possibility of gain. This comes with a catch, though: it is really hard to disassociate yourself from the fear you’ve created. You can convince people the world’s going to heck in a handbag surprisingly easily. But it’ll be way harder to convince them to like you and do business with you afterward.
The next time you’re tempted to be overly negative in your advertising, whether it’s about your competitors, the problems facing your customers, or even the world itself, ask how your ad will make folks feel. Does the solution you offer ring out more clearly than the fear you’ve built up? Did you plant a dream to strive for?
There’s an awful lot of negativity in our day-to-day lives. Be the positive message people remember instead. If you need any help figuring out that positive message, give us a call.