Why brands should be more Marvel than DC, and more real life and craft than brand purpose

When out for a socially distanced walk, from a 'social distance'  you're able to observe the other atomised bubbles of people.

Their body language, facial expressions and, avoiding looking like a stalker, even a snippet of the conversation.

Naturally, you'll chance upon serious discussion about COVID. However, there will be more banter, gossip, idle chat, bickering or just shooting the breeze.

Because even in these times that suck your soul like a Harry Potter Dementor, the people living them are managing to find little ways to lift each other's spirits. In real life, everywhere we're trying to be cheerful where we can.

Yet in brand land, you can't move for serious minded brand purpose.

Forgetting that much of the popular culture around it is decidedly cheerful.

Advertising is becoming relentlessly serious and 'purpose', rather than good.

And don't get going on 'precision' rather than charm, surprise and delight, that's for another day.

It's been like this for a while. Brands deciding they want to save the world or stand up for human rights, even though their job is to fill you up at breakfast, or hoover the floor. 

Obviously, brands that reflect real culture sell more, but the operative word is real culture.

Nike can serious, do equality, be that race, gender or anything, because those issues are in sport. This IS the culture. Also, they have spent years building an authentic voice built on 'if you have a body, you're an athlete'. 

Axe can do stuff on male identity because the whole point of deodorant is confidence. Then again, look at what happens when Old Spice decides to have fun.

Just as Brewdog finds it easy to build traction just by NOT pretending to be the saviour of all men.

Still, I have a sneaky suspicion that the funny, well crafted beer campaigns of old would piss all over modern stuff. Partly because they were built on product truths and partly, they were all full of light hearted banter - the real culture of what beer is supposed to be about. I wonder if the people in beer marketing have ever actually been to a pub sometimes (current times excepted). 

In fact I know beer ads of old would work, Bud Light is essentially beer ads of old. 

So yes, peanut butter can now be source of strength to get you through a tough life because it's got protein in, when really it's wonderful comfort food (and a source of friction between crunchy and smooth camps). It can even be a way to save the planet if it's sustainably sourced. Apparently. 

Of course, well sustained food should be important, and many buyers choose this way. Not all though. 

And when every brand is has traceable ingredients, how will they be different then?

PG Tips tea bags can save the world because they're 100% recyclable. But I doubt it will shift as many units as Yorkshire Tea doing more ads with Sean Bean about properness, where you feel good about EVERYTHING they do, especially the taste.

I'm sure there is a house cleaning brand somewhere sponsoring giving ex-cons a second chance by wiping the bloody slate clean.

All because people take research at face value, or listen to the lies respondents tell because they think it's what they should say (or they lie to themselves, just we all believe this January really will be a fresh start, or we bought that sports car because of the turbo engine rather than the status we think it gives us). 

People do care about the environment more, thankfully all sorts of issues on equality, race, fairness and health are becoming important to more people. It's fair to say many like to know companies are playing their part in this.

But it's not WHY they buy all the time.

It can be for many kinds of people and many kinds of categories. But even with cars, yes, thank god, eco friendly machines are popular, but let's be honest, an electric powered Porsche is still a penis extension. An MPV is still a mess of sweet wrappers and squabbling kids. 

P&G could do the 'sponsor of Mums campaign' because, while vaguely sexist, loads of their products were used by global Mums - beauty, cleaning and babies (I over simplify but don't let fact ruin a well made point). 

Dove can do The Campaign for Real Beauty because it's grounded in real truths ABOUT the category.

I hope I'm making my point about reflecting the culture around what your selling, rather than pretending to be something you're not.

I think there's a bigger cultural point though. It's become fashionable to try and cut-through by tapping into issues and getting serious about real life. 

Which shows a tin ear for real culture to be honest. Because even in serious lockdown times, so much popular culture is an escape. In fact, Brainjuicer found people getting pissed off with 'we're all in this together' ads bringing reality crashing into moments when people were trying for forget about life for a while.

Great entertainment tends to resonate with what we feel and care about without talking about it direct.

Bond is a confused and man struggling with his place in the world these days, because that makes him relatable to 'nowadays'. He stills shags lots of women and drives ridiculous cars, even if he shows his bruises more.

Look at the mostly tanking DC superhero universe v the soaring Marvel world. DC is relentlessly dark, brooding and heavy. Marvel really makes you feel something, yet manages to be really funny, light and even laugh at itself.

It has strong female characters, LGBT heroes, Thor has obesity issues and drink issues. It's of it's time. 

But it remembers to have craft. They actually bother to create tight stories, great dialogue and develop characters with the relatable conflicts. In other words, it feels like real life even though it obviously isn't. 

It reflects our lives back at us, while helping us forget it. 

Now, cut back to so many of the clunky campaigns out there lazily getting into 'issues' because they think they're doing 'culture' and believe people when they say they buy good deeds more than good products.

They don't half as much as they say, or Amazon would be out of business. 

So few bother to understand the real world around what they're selling, and then the real culture they're interrupting.

I'm saying there is massive commercial power in going back to actually selling products (or at least emotional benefits) rather than just values. 

Or, to be fashioned. Say something about the product in a way that cannot be missed.

Put another way, in when marketers are all going a bit DC, it's time to be more Marvel

Comments

[Simon Robinson]

Loved that post!

I really do agree with you. In these times, I feel that we need brands to come to us as friends.

If I want social activism and struggle, I can just turn on the twitter outlets.