Ever.
Everever.
Julius Caesar?
Not even close. The global population in 44BC was less than 300 Million, and most of them had never even heard of him, couldn’t speak latin, and didn’t know what Rome was.
“Amo, Amas, Am Out”
Abraham Lincoln?
Nope. The US population when Lincoln gave the Gettysberg Address in 1863 was less than 32 Million. A fair proportion of those couldn’t read, so if you held up a copy of the speech and told them it was the original pilot script of Thundercats, they wouldn’t know any different.
Gone with the Wind?
One of the most profitable films in history; it is thought that almost 202 million viewers have watched Clarke Gable say “frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” Or to put it another way – if that film was only released in modern day china, you could have a room containing seven people and six of them wouldn’t give a damn either.
But now… now you can speak to an entire world. For pennies!
So… are the audience receptive?
They are dying to see your content.
Literally.
In many countries, they’re so receptive that they’re actually walking into traffic rather than take their eyes off their smartphones, forcing Google to actually develop a ‘Heads Up’ tool to get people to look where they are going whilst on the phone. They are so worried they’ll miss something, they’re actually willing to die not to miss something. Which strikes me as short termist thinking, but what do I know?
The communication that you approve for broadcast on Monday morning may end up being your legacy.
And I don’t mean that in a power point Thursday meeting buzzword bingo ‘legacy’ sort of thing.
I mean that quite literally, it could be remembered for generations.
Remembered fondly like a great film, or a great painting, a favourite novel, an advert from your childhood with a great jingle or the Guinness advert with those horses. (I still know every single word of the Dulux Advert from 1985 – I was five years old when it came out)
Or with hilarity… like horrible wallpaper, or those creepy cigarette adverts with smoking babies, or the catalogue adverts for men’s playsuits.
Or… despite the fact that you can now speak to more people, more cheaply, more easily than ever before. It might not be remembered at all. Which is actually an even more remarkable legacy… remarkable but not impressive.
Take a look at what you’ve got scheduled for Monday –
Is it another recipe shot ‘top down’ over a hotplate?
Does it involve a photograph of your product next to a kiwi fruit/strawberry/influencer?
Is there a young woman at the beach holding her hands up to the sun in the shape of a heart?
Does it involve, in any shape, in any form, an idea?
Here’s the thing – there is a difference between Creative and Execution.
At the moment, many brands are executing all the time – filming, photographing, photoshopping… Commission a still shot of the product with a bit of set-dressing, and we have a social post. All that matters in this equation is how much media space you buy.
However, Creative is different. Creative looks at who you are, what your customers need, and what the opportunity is. It looks at the barriers to entry and the reasons to believe. And then it comes at it from leftfield in an engaging way that tries to make you laugh, or cry, or scream – but most importantly; to make you remember. And once you’ve got the idea, it then goes to the film company or the art department or the stills photographer and they add their genius to the process to make the whole thing richer and more engaging.
If you are a Marketer in 2021, you are a broadcaster with a bigger audience than anyone in the whole of history.
You can take them to new planets or realities. You can show them people, places and ideas that they have never considered. You can take them a million years in the past or a million years in the future.
You can make them fall in love with characters.
You can do amazing things.
All you need is an idea.
And we’re ideas people.
Call us today and we can start the journey together.
And because you got this far, here’s the Dulux advert that five year old me loved so much.
All the best, Strawman