Why trade advertising needs to be more playful
The conventional view of advertising is that consumer stuff can be fun, whilst a business ad should be sombre. A TV ad break is all about entertainment whilst a message we get at work should be purely rational.
Which is all rubbish, of course.
Recently Google presented research it’s conducted in consultation with Oracle, that maps just how wrong this is. By measuring the emotional component and its importance in businesses decisions against consumer purchasing, they have shown how back to front this way of thinking is. The reality is that business decisions are laden with emotional decision making, much more so than anything we buy as consumers.
It stands to reason; buy the wrong pizza for your family on the way home tonight and they might bend your ear with their complaints, but it’ll all be forgotten tomorrow. Choose the wrong CRM management software for your business and the potential downside of a bad decision could be loss of credibility, respect or even long term the loss of your job. The emotional element is so important when the purchasing decisions are coupled with human relationships between buyer and salesman, supplier, distributor and everyone else involved in the sales and supply chain. Compare that with a consumer purchase where you’ll probably never see the shop assistant again and it’s easy to see how important emotions are.
I’m not advocating frivolous or unnecessary trade marketing, but it’s time to re-think how we treat the people we talk to in trade communications. We need to think about them as people first and foremost, rather than faceless job titles or responsibilities. We need to understand the pressures and challenges they have in their lives. The stuff that’s going on for them during the normal working day, as well as outside it at home during evenings and weekends, with their family and whilst they’re out doing whatever they do in the rest of their lives.
Focussing on people will allow us to create genuine brand engagement, by making emotional connections between the brand and its customers, rather than trying to base everything on generic business rationales and messages.
If you’d like help with planning and strategy to take your brand forward contact peter.batchelor@lawcreative.co.uk