Advertising Campaigns Are Dead: Brand Story Is The New Big Idea

When working as a creative in the advertising business we were obsessed with finding the Big Idea. We wanted that great campaign with the clever tagline that everyone would talk about, hand awards to, and of course make the cash register ring. This catch phrase was even turned into the CNBC talk show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.

The big idea was about running 6 month or annual advertising campaigns with three print ads, a radio spot, some banner ads and a couple billboards, etc. Soon enough the ad agency or brand manager or CEO would grow tired of the campaign and we would step up to bat and try to hit another one out of the park. Big ideas were tidy mini stories told in a series of well crafted and finely controlled media executions. And stories in advertising are powerful as my recent research on Super Bowl ads has proven.

We were creating integrated campaigns with digital and social media, but social wasn’t as mainstream as it is today. As of September 2013, 73% of online adults use social networking sites. Fully 40% of cell phone owners use a social networking site on their phone.

Because social media is so big today I think the big idea has to be different. In social media there are so many individual executions being created daily, by brands and their consumers, we need a brand story that doesn’t start or end, but evolves and is co-created over time through interaction with customers.

But to do this you need to know what that core story is first and have a solid social media policy in place, because you will have more than one brand story teller versus the traditional advertising copywriter and art director. Now we engage our customers in conversation. John Miller hit upon this in a recent Inc. article.

What do you think? Is the traditional advertising campaign idea dead? Don’t get me wrong, you still need a big idea and creativity. It’s just not such a tidy process. In a way, your ideas must be even bigger and more flexible to include trends and consumer comments and content.

In terms of social media and story telling, brands need to get out of the campaign mindset and start living out a bigger story on a daily basis.

Brand Engagement Through The “Martydom Effect”

For non-profits the “consumer” of the service is not the same person “purchasing” the service. So there is no immediate gratification like we get when purchasing a new pair of Nikes or an iPod. But does that mean the donor receives no benefits? There are definitely emotional benefits from giving. The desire to help others is inside of us all and it feels good to do so.

A different way to look at this is involvement. Today I think more people want to get involved to make a difference versus simply writing a check. In this instance the donor receive the benefit as an experience. There are obvious ways that this can happen like Habitat for Humanity builds. The “run for a cause” trend has also taken off in recent years through marathons, distance biking, and shorter runs or walks. People are attracted to athletic fundraising events for the experience – even the rewards that come from pain and suffering. Princeton University conducted a study that suggests people like to participate in fundraising activities that involve discomfort. Researcher Christopher Olivola attributed the results to a phenomenon he calls the “martyrdom effect.” “When you have to work hard and suffer for a cause, then you become more involved and more motivated to help,” he said.I can attest to this personally. I ran my fastest marathon when I ran for Cure International and raised enough money to pay for six club foot operations so these kids could run too. Olivola’s dissertation states, “Most theories of behavior consider pain and effort to be deterrents and assume that making a task more painful and effortful should decrease motivation … I show that willingness to contribute to a charitable or collective cause increases when the contribution process is expected to be painful and effortful rather than easy and enjoyable.” Not only did I train harder, but I contributed my own money and my sponsors contributed to this good cause.

Another way to get involved is by feeling like you are actually helping because you are. Another campaign that has influenced me is for Wireless Amber Alerts. On May 25, 2006, National Missing Children’s Day, The Advertising Council launched a national, multi-media PSA campaign designed to raise awareness of The Wireless Foundation’s Wireless AMBER Alerts program and to encourage all wireless subscribers to aid in the search for abducted children. I saw the ads featured in an advertising publication called Creativity and I immediately signed up. If a child is missing in your area you are sent a text message describing where he or she was last seen and provides descriptions of the abductor and his or her vehicle. Hundreds of people can provide extra eyes for law enforcement to help find missing children. In its first four years AMBER Alert helped save the lives of 502 children nationwide.

The Home Depot has been successful in donating money, time and effort through its associate led volunteer force to help Habitat for Humanity. Recently they’ve received PR coverage with their  “Repair Core” program that helps veterans with home repairs. Is there a cause (non-profit) your brand can team up with to increase engagement? Is there an event or effort that can also increase involvement by taking advantage of the martydom effect?