A Campaign is not Communication

Do you remember early 2000s commercials? The Pepsi vs Coca Cola campaigns? The Nike motivational ads? The first time you heard “the future’s bright, the future’s Orange” from Orange Telecom? Those were the days… Particularly, I find, when it comes to customer communication in the tech field. Gone are the days of Apple’s “1984” or O2’s rebrand of the Millennium Dome into the now London staple O2 Arena. There still are outliers, sure! Telekom’s “#Sharewithcare” campaign for one is a wonderful and poignant reflection of current online “Sharenting” practices. But for every one “Message from Ella”, there are ten copy-pasted stock image campaigns and that… well that shouldn’t be the case. Lesson 2: A Campaign is NOT Communication!

Put in the effort

Courtesy of Adobe Stock Images

The lovely gentleman pictured across the many campaigns above (yes, these are different campaigns) is a stock photo model. Now I sincerely hope he is as successful as his portfolio makes it seem because… I SEE HIM EVERYWHERE! And after this, so will you.

He is the result of companies thinking that pretty images of people that somewhat look like whom they’re selling to are enough to peddle goods and services. They are, of course, wrong. For we, the consumers, are complex beings, are able to judge, scrutinize, and filter. We are used to the noise of modern-day advertising and are versed in pin-pointing the fake and the lazy. When it comes to communication, quality always trumps quantity and the way to quality comes in three steps: Authenticity, Specificity, Relevance.

Authenticity: Communicate who you are as a company

Your communication should reflect who you are as a company: your values, your beliefs, your tone of voice, etc. Your identity informs what differentiates you in the market. If you’re funny, be funny. But you must first understand WHY you are funny. If you’re serious, be serious, but know WHY you are serious and WHAT you are serious about.

The bottom line is that your communication is not an island; a singular campaign or a bundle of content, but the culmination of all the individual elements that build up your company identity. From your core values to the products you sell, from the beliefs of your people to the culture you instill in them. If you want others to know about you, start by figuring out what “YOU” means.

Specificity: Don’t try pleasing everyone, focus all your energy on pleasing the RIGHT customer

Segmenting your audience is a tried-and-tested way to build specificity in your communication – we call that “targeting”. It’s an essential first step, but we need to dig deeper if we really want to “talk good” to our audience. For that, we need to break down being “specific” into its components: specific as being noticeable and specific as being understandable.

Ensure your messaging is easy to notice and to understand by leveraging “codes”

Daniel Kahneman’s System 1 thinking refers to processes that are instinctive, rapid, and emotional (thinking fast). Our brains form strong connections between environmental stimuli and our interpretation of them: red means fast, blue is trustworthy, gold is expensive. This helps us eliminate the “noise” in our surroundings to focus on what is most important in the moment. Long ago, this meant running from the shine of a tiger’s eyes in a bush. Now it means picking the red Ibuprofen pills instead of the white generic brand ones, because red means faster acting.

Associations between colors and effects are ingrained into our brains not just through evolution, but also through culture, experience, societal norms, etc. The same associations are between shapes, materials, smells, and other stimuli. Semiotics, the study of signs and sign-using behavior, remains because of this a cornerstone of branding and communication. If your brand stands for speed, effectiveness, and reliability, what are the things that your customers associate with those values? A little red pill and silver packaging seems to do the trick. Find your semiotic “codes” and leverage them in your communication across all your channels.

Relevance: Fulfill your customer’s need at the right time and at the right place

Relevance is derived out of your customer’s need states during their journey to purchase. So, on the way to buying gum, what are the need-states you go through:

1.       Realize you have a special occasion coming up (need: to impress)

2.       Realize you’re breath is not ready for that occasion (need: improvement)

3.       Remember what brand of gum is good with handling such an urgent situation (need: trust)

4.       Find a store nearby and hope it carries that brand (need: discovery)

5.       Find the gum shelf and pick it from all other options (need: convenience)

6.       Pay for it (need: affordability)

7.       Unpack it and stick it in your mouth (need: excitement)

8.       Commence chewing and experience freshness (need: reward)

See how many these are? Just for gum? Also, these are different for different customer segments (refer to step 2, Be Specific). Relevance is a matter of interacting with your customers in a way that matches the touchpoint and the need-state. Basically, you gotta hit them where they live!

„Alex, how do we make sure we are relevant?“ I hear you ask. Have no fear, my company has asked me to plug this neat little tool we use to help clients achieve relevance. Please enjoy it while I sell out.

The X-Levels of Separation

We look at relevance through the lens of your customers, combining elements of Semiotics and Psychological Archetypes to define how a brand can best communicate to trigger the correct calls to action at the right need-state. We do this by borrowing elements present considerably in relatable human relationships.

The X-Levels of Separation

A matter of timing and emotions

This Levels of Separation simplify the complex array of relationships one has into four key archetypes, most commonly experienced in our own lives: the Savior (rare occurrence, but highly emotional), the Provider (utilitarian relationship, see them rarely), the Colleague (frequent interactions with an easy-going, casual feeling to them), and the Lover (frequent, high-octane interactions). 

Important: there is not one Archetype better than another. There are, though, archetypes that do not fit your brand and, as such, will not have the desired result.

This supports decision-making for a brand’s communication strategy. An insurance brand can leverage the Savior archetype and engage their audience in infrequent touchpoints (read: need-states), with pragmatic, informative messaging to mitigate the strong emotions associated with the interaction. There are several levels deeper to this exercise, regarding the “so what” as it is referred to, the impact the choice of archetype has on your communication and positioning. But that, I am told by my boss, I am not allowed to disclose openly. So… call me if this triggered any interest and we can happily see how this framework can help your company.

Build it and they will come

Importantly, if you are authentic, specific, and relevant, you will begin owning your relationships with customers by leveraging instinctive associations. We do this intrinsically, based on years and years of experience. On the hopefully rare occasions we feel pain (high emotion), we go see a doctor (Savior). When we take a quick break between meetings (weak emotion), we invite a team-mate to sit down with us (Colleague). Introduce authenticity in your communication, be specific in form and message, and remain relevant. It is more complex and, of course, more difficult than initially thought, but this is who you are in your market, your profile towards your customers, your chance to show them what you stand for and why you are different. Show them why they should invest in YOU.