Be Bumper Sticker Simple

For years, environmentalists, climate advocates, and utility companies feared the word, “conserve.” They all said, “no, that’s an awful word. Don’t use it. It reminds people of Jimmy Carter forcing them to put on a sweater,” and what’s more, it reminded folks they were giving up what they like.

So for years, we used the term “energy efficient.” Be “efficient,” put in LED bulbs, carshare, use transit, use timers, etc. Same effect, but with a different framing. It still didn’t work, and US energy companies kept building coal plants to meet increasing demand. Oil companies ramped up drilling to meet driver’s needs.

Then as part of a campaign, we did focus groups in northern Wisconsin, where we threw out the same terms of “conservation” and “energy efficiency.” This was in the middle of $4/gallon gas and heating bills that were skyrocketing. And that’s where this one group shifted our thinking.

Instead of rejecting conservation, they embraced it. They said instead of your words, just ask people to “use less” (conservation) or “use better” (efficiency). They said either way, “I save, so I win.” It was bumper sticker simple, and all of us supposed geniuses behind the glass didn’t see it until then.

Brands need to embrace the simplicity of messaging. Don’t fall in love with terms, fall in love with accessibility. Ease of understanding. The escape from continuing to explain, especially in the elevator pitch. It’s about thinking like your audiences, not like the managers or VPs.

Campaigns, brands, issues are onions. Let them be multi-layered, and let folks open them when they’re ready— more than likely when they’re spiraling down the marketing funnel. Pique their curiousity, and they’ll be open to a deeper, more detailed message.

Be Mesmerizing.

It’s the cool factor, the “gee whiz” moment, the “if-they-forget-the-rest-they’ll-remember-this” element. It’s the sugar that makes the medicine go down. It could be a cool video location, charismatic character, or bit of CGI.

For example, in the below video, I was handed a branding concept behind the organization. All the execs had fallen in love with the term, but they floundered trying to explain it. We talked about using a video to explain it at the next fundraiser. So, we began shooting.

Then something became obvious. The video stunk. It was boring. Sure, we had a lot of people explaining the concept, the “secret sauce” recipe, but it wasn’t watchable to absorb the message. In short, there was no “gee whiz.”

After lots of ideation, we considered animating the video or using an artist. Then we settled on combining those two with a graphic meeting note-taker to illustrate the points and shoot him as he did his magic. The end result was magic, and it was a big hit at the fundraiser. Watch below.

Equitable Development Video for Project for Pride in Living

Be Strategic.

Brand awareness isn’t enough. In fact, I’m not sure what that really means. Instead, make people brand active. Convert them to fans and ambassadors. And it starts with message and content delivery.