Here’s an interesting project about brands by Romania-based Stefan Asafti.
More Brandversations on Stefan’s Behance profile.
Words have more power than people give them credit for. In fact writers often scroll through hundreds of words before finding the perfect one, the one word that encapsulates their message completely and correctly.
It’s no surprise then, that effective cut-through communication relies on the mutual understanding of those words and their intended meaning by both sides in the communication equation – sender and receiver. We often forgot that with the rise of social media it’s not enough to simply send your message out into the world; it needs to be understood quickly so it can be processed and acted upon even quicker.
I saw a video recently of a homeless man on the street, his sign saying “PLEASE HELP, I’M BLIND”. He had a few people stopping by and giving money, but nothing that would greatly ease his suffering. He had the right message, but the wrong words to create action in his audience. His message wasn’t cutting through all the other market place noise.
The clip continues as a professional woman comes into shot. She pauses, picks up his sign. You see her hastily writing something, but you’re unsure what. The homeless man touches her shoes as she puts the sign back into position beside him. The scene changes and more donations are being given to help, the homeless man scrambling to capture all coins in his tin. The professional woman returns after some time and the homeless man recognises her by her shoes, which he’s felt again. He asks with genuine sincerity and appreciation, what did she do to his sign and her reply? “I wrote the same, with different words”.
She used the right words, in the right context to create cut-through communication and connection between sender and receiver, and the effect in this demonstration was profound. Imagine if all your communication was received this way.
Brio Group can help you find the right words to achieve cut-through communication in the busiest of marketplaces. We also offer helpful hints on writing better Press Releases, creating copy for your ads and understanding the rapidly growing business benefits of social media.
I’m not someone who you would say is “top of the fashion pack” but it goes without saying that I’m mildly interested in the “catwalk show experience”. I like them and when I’m invited to attend, I go, but I don’t often go out of my way to track them down or view them online.
When I do attend, I often gaze with so much admiration you could be forgiven for thinking I’d just met the love of my life and couldn’t take my eyes off them. I watch patiently, carefully putting together next season’s wardrobe in my mind, vowing to track down the items as soon as they’re released for public consumption. I’m pretty sure I even think at some point while in my fashion trance “I should design clothing for a living”, but then the lights come on and I’m awoken to the fact that I may never find, let alone own some of the beautiful designs I’d just witness sashaying before me. What I do own, however is the experience created by the brand, and that brand memory will be mine forever.
My most recent brand “memory acquisition” is from Burberry. Burberry is a historically British luxury brand whose clothing is unsuitable to the harsh Australian climate (for me) and is too much at odds with my current clothing cycle. However they delivered such an unforgettable brand experience with their recent Beijing Fashion show that I’m now looking at their website, “Liking” them on Facebook and finding them on Twitter – I’m a fan with a huge crush on their April Showers showcase.
So how did they blow my brandless cotton socks off?
Like Lynx who stepped outside the box with their technology-born vixens who fell to earth in London’s Victoria Station, Burberry elevated the catwalk experience with their most fashionably dressed catwalk models bursting into snowflakes (amongst other things) at the Beijing Fashion show, adding a touch of magic, personality and interactivity through new technology to their fashion show experience.
This unique twist on the standard catwalk show has created a fresh perception of the brand, in my eyes at least, and inspired my thinking on ways to use technology to create greater interactivity between brands and potential consumers in upcoming campaigns.
PS. As it’s ANZAC day please take a moment to pause and reflect on those who sacrificed so much to give us the lives we have now.
As a make-up lover (yes, make-up is another addiction of mine!), I am often disappointed by the majority of advertising campaigns the high-end make-up brands deliver into the market space every year. They’re often the same drab looking old ads: a model – or in some cases, a celebrity – perfectly manicured within an inch of her life so she appears in the glossy spread without so much as a wrinkle or enlarged pore, wearing foundation, a ho-hum eye colour, mascara that promises the impossible and a glossy pale lip (or if they’re feeling dramatic, a vampy red lip … oooh-ahhh!). You know the kind of ad I am talking about … if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
So when I came across Illamasqua’s Autumn 2011 collection called Toxic Nature, on a blog today (make-up lovers can read about the collection here), and saw the amazing collection’s accompanying advertising campaign, I sat up … and squealed with delight!
The campaign reminds me of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, however a much grittier and grown up Alice, and suits the name of the collection, Toxic Nature, and Illamasqua’s tagline “make-up for your alter-ego” perfectly. I am impressed. It’s about time make-up advertising got interesting! Now let’s see if the other leading brands take note!