Your strapline. Our cliché.

on Mar 28 in Advertising, Strategy tagged by Peter Blackman

Back in the (away) day, I was once at an off site, blue sky, thought cascade, brand planning session. In between undertaking shamenistic medicine walks, country dancing and drawing ‘what trousers would look like if they were designed by Porsche’, we briefly did some brand visioning with the client. Or was it imagineering? I can’t remember. It’s all so long ago, and we were all so stimulated and energised in those days. Anyway, one of the clients, when asked for a defining characteristic of the brand that he worked on said ‘Passion. Definitely.We’re passionate about XXXX*’

He was quite pleased with this answer, and so was taken aback when the agency strategy director groaned as if he had trodden in something awful.

“So you f**king should be.” the director responded. “If you’re not passionate about it, why the f**k should anyone else be?”

Warming to his theme, but not noticing the ice cold glare of both the client and Account Director,  he went on “And none of your competition give a f**k either do they? None of them are passionate. Not like you. Hell’s teeth -  passion isn’t enough guys. We’re looking for genuine differentiation. Something particular to you. Ideally unique - which noone else can claim. Not the fact that you manage to get up, put on clothes and actually give a shit most of the time.”

It was a passionate outburst. Which ultimately lost us the business as the client went to an agency where they didn’t shout at him and gave him a round of applause when he talked about his passion. That and the dances they bought him at Spearmint Rhino.

I’ve often thought about that strategy director over the last few days, and wondered what he would make of the proliferation of passion in current marketing campaigns. For brands seem not to have realised that simply telling consumers that they are passionate about vermin extinction, or drainage solutions (for humorous example), is not really that persuasive. First of of all, consumers just want to know that you can kills the rats, or unblock their drains. Secondly, they’re a bit cynical about wide-eyed, over zealous claims to be ‘passionate’ about products or services which are mundane and uninteresting.

But whatever it is that you need - pet food, a new flat, a retirement home, or even fulfilling your potential, then you can find a supplier who will tell you that it is their PASSION.