It is through our limbic system that advertising has the most impact.

Love me or hate me, but whatever you do don’t be indifferent towards me. I will force you to react to me, whatever that form takes. The energy required to ignore me is more powerful than that to engage with me. For that, in the end, is what we all seek to do with advertising. THAT is branding. One type is the art of polarization. Most brands do not understand that. They have sought, in the political-correctness era, to offend no one; disconnect. And in the end we have watched those brands become bland imitations of themselves, losing out to the forces that erode them from all sides. If your advertising does not offend anyone, then it impacts no one; and history rarely remembers the well behaved.

Give people something to believe in. Let them believe in your product. Allow them to believe. Politicians are the best marketers in the world, for they foster blind love, and vitriolic hatred, by tapping into the differentiating factors; not where we have common ground. If you do not dissagree with them on one small point then their other views hold no validation for you. That small area where you disagree is where all the power is, for it elevates every other positive aspect you do hold for that brand.

It is the “dirty rag syndrome.” Plant Inspectors are looking for faults when they visit a plant to conduct an inspection. The plant managers will drop a dirty rag in the middle of the floor. It is a minor thing, but it gives the inspector something to check-off. If they had nothing to check they would seek, and often, find something much more insidious. The dirty rag allows them to make a check-mark, find fault, and move on… ignoring more serious problems. We do not seek perfection, but seek to find the faults that make others human. Such is the same with brands. Their humanity is expressed in their foibles. Be they minor, the masses will rally around to defend. Seek for your brand to be imperfect, in minor ways; human.

You cannot shout your way to success, for the age of the downward dictatorship is over. Brands have been isolated from the real conversations of their consumers, believing that their downward dictate of disseminated press releases, and 30 second spots was sufficient. Today, with the advent of buzz and social media monitoring tools those brands are getting a glimpse of their future, and they are scared. The conversations about their brands have passion… on all sides. What they do not understand is that those conversations were always happening, it’s just now we have the technology to tap into them, monitor them, shape them. The brands, agencies, and vendors that understand that dynamic will usher in a new era of communication with their consumers.

Open your eyes to becoming conscious marketers of your product. Evoke passion. That, is what great advertising does, and if you’re still reading this, it does it very well.

ranty rant signing off…