A blind boy sat on the steps of a building. He had a hat by his feet and a sign that said “I am blind. Please help.”
There were only a few coins in his hat.
A man walked up. He dropped a few coins in the hat. Then he took the sign, turned it around and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone walking by would see the new words. Then he walked away.
Soon the hat began to fill up with coins. More and more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who changed the sign came back.
The boy recognised his footsteps and asked, “were you the person who changed my sign this morning?”
The man said, “yes.”
The boy asked, “what did you write?”
The man replied, “I said what you said but in a different way.”
What he had written was ‘today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.’
Why are we talking about this? To drive category and brand growth we need to drive shopper behaviour change. Get them to start buying. To buy more often. To buy something different.
One of the key tools we use to do this is communication. We do it on pack. On shelf-ready packaging. On point-of-sale materials.
But take a look around store (or online) and you will see that a lot of communication is pretty similar. Same type of message. Different brand.
This is because a lot of shopper communication follows a similar set of (explicit or implicit) rules.
To drive growth, your communication needs to be different. To be different, you need to communicate in a different way. To communicate in a different way, you need to break the communication rules.
So, how can you do this?
You think you need… a verb. Sometimes brands build this directly into their messaging – e.g. “Upgrade to Sure Non Stop Protection.” But often they don’t. They end up shoehorning a “try” or “pick up” or “grab” or “buy” into the main message. Or, even worse, add it as part of a secondary message. It’s easy to focus so much on the need for a verb that you lose sight of the actual message.
What you really need… is a reason to buy. A clear and compelling reason for shoppers to buy your category, segment or brand. It might be something like Kleenex “save the sleeve.” It might be Fairy “skip the soak.” It might be Huel “All the nutrients you need. 1 meal.” If it’s got a verb, great. If not, no problem.
Worry much less about the verb and much more about the reason.
You think you need… to tick all the boxes. Our product is tasty. We should tell shoppers. It’s convenient. We should tell shoppers. It’s healthy. We should tell shoppers. It’s great for lunchboxes. We should tell shoppers. Each one is individually valid. But collectively they are overwhelming. Shoppers have moved on before they’ve tried to make sense of things.
What you really need… is to tick one big box. You need to communicate the single most important thing. Doing this means making choices. Fabric conditioners do this well. There are two big benefits of a fabric conditioner – softness & fragrance. Look at the majority of communication from Comfort & Lenor. They focus on fragrance. They have picked a lane and are staying in it.
Worry much less about ticking all the boxes and much more about ticking one big box.
You think you need… to fit in. You look at the type of language other brands in your category are using. You’re in the personal care category, so need to talk about the new molecule. You’re a food, so you need to talk about taste. You’re a drink, so you need to talk about refreshment. Then you do so using safe language. Saying something any brand can say.
What you really need… is to stand out. Say something different. Say it in a differentiated way. For instance, Tango talk about taste but do so in an original way with “give your tongue a spank.” Oatly don’t say “dairy free” they say, “wow no cow.” Chiquita bananas say, “it peels so good.” Use riskier language. Something that only your brand can say.
Worry much less about fitting in and much more about standing out.
Communication should be one of the most creative things we do. But it often isn’t.
So, take a step back. Look at your shopper communication.
Ask yourself a question. Is it following the standard communication rules? If so, break them.
Don’t play the game, change the game.
Feel free to forward. Have a great weekend. Speak to you in a fortnight.