Branding & Print Ads: Two Books On Two Fundamentals
Search "Marketing" in Amazon.com's Books category and you'll come up with about 75,000 titles--and that's just the paperbacks. I'm sure stacks of them are stellar. Here are two that I believe absolutely, positively should be on the bookshelf (or Kindle) of anyone who runs a firm, contributes to the ad-creation process, or, for that matter, pays people or agencies to do either.
The first is Marty Neumeier's The Brand Gap (not an affiliate link, just a plain-Jane one). Written in 2003 and revised in 2005, the book is an easy read stuffed with simple yet sweeping insight on what a brand is and is not (spoiler alert: a logo is not a brand), and how to craft a good one. His fundamental message:
"A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It's not what you say it is. It's what THEY say it is."
This message cuts to the core of so much more than branding--indeed, it underscores the massive role that the customer plays in marketing today. Most business folk recognize that this is what makes social media so powerful: the ability to get involved in--and learn from--a conversation, as opposed to just another channel over which messages can be broadcast. Yet it's amazing how many people forget the customer when they're crafting the rest of their marketing strategies, including bedrock ones like what they hope their brand will be. (Remember, fellow marketing folks, it's not what you say it is....)
Neumeier's book is, as he puts it, the minimum amount of information needed to convey his message. If adding yet another business book to your to-read list is too daunting (hey, we're all busy, right?), you're in luck: Neumeier's published a downloadable .PDF presentation that summarizes his points nicely. Get it here now; thank me later.
Next up is an ever more classic (read: old) offering: Luke Sullivan's Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. First written in 1998 and updated twice since, the book is the veteran copywriter and blogger's irreverent take on the history of advertising and, more importantly, what makes a good ad.
Two of myriad takeaways that resonated with me:
Saying you're cool isn't the same as being cool. To paraphrase Sullivan: Ever see a Nike ad that says, "We're cool?" Nope. Nike just is cool, which is why people line up to buy Nike's stuff, even though it's, well, just stuff.
The less you have in the ad, the better. Granted, this is a generality, but it's generally true. Notes Sullivan: "Every element you add to a layout reduces the importance of all the other elements."
Great copy next to a great image reduces the greatness of both. This is especially true in online or large-format (billboards, vehicle wraps, etc.), when you have less time to make an impression on your target. The ad shown here for VW, done by Bill Bernbach-led DDB, is a great example.
Sullivan lauds DDB and its VW Bug campaign in particular for giving the advertising world myriad examples of how to stand out. (Or, as he so eloquently puts it, "not suck.")
The theme that links both of these books: simplicity. Yes, marketing can be complex, what with aspects like quantitative research that helps shape campaigns, and analytics that help determine success (or lack thereof). Often, though, it's the simple approach that makes a brand shine or an ad campaign resonate.
Got a simple ad you love? Find it online and post a link in the comments section.