Greetings, and welcome to 2021, which is so far not remarkably distinct from its predecessor. But, in any event, I have a new piece of writing to share. Earlier last year my friend and colleague Megan Myers asked if I might share some thoughts on navigating career choices post-PhD for a graduate student journal, Spanish and Portuguese Review. Click here if you’d like to check it out!
Has your brand found its fall?
The following is an excerpt from the fall edition of my newsletter, The Write of Way. Interested in learning more? Subscribe here!
It's the second official day of fall, unless you demarcate seasons via Starbucks, in which case it began on August 25. Either way, it's a time of extreme significance for marketers. Why?
For fall is the greatest marketing triumph of them all.
Now, if you're reading this in New England, I am willing to listen to your dissent on this point. You have an actual need for that fisherman sweater and an apple-picking excursion to get to. Sorry to hold you up. Oh you're from Salem? Get your witch on.
But as it relates to the South, I have never seen a greater shared delusion (in which I fully participate, by the way).
Now, I will acknowledge at this venture that my argument is somewhat undercut by the (most inconvenient) recent dip in temperature here in Atlanta. Let us be reminded that this too is an illusion wrought by an onslaught of hurricanes. But before we stray into a discussion of climate change, let's get back to what we can glean from a marketing perspective.
For many, fall represents less of a lived reality and more of an inspired feeling, a reprieve from the chaos of modern life. Any number of products can feed into this appeal, which makes it marketing gold. Whether the temperatures actually drop, we embrace seasonal squash, sweaters and dubiously spiced products as a means to access a projected sense of coziness. It's a oneness with our physical surroundings and a sheltered state in which one can be at peace with, and even welcome, change.
The emotional pull of the fall experience is so strong that we embrace it and change our behavior even if the weather doesn't change all that much (go to the beach the weekend after Labor Day for confirmation). While I'm not suggesting we should all go out and sell vaporware based on emotional draw, I do think brands often miss the chance to capture the experience of their product, to paint a scene customers can actively embrace.
The fall approach goes a step beyond prioritizing benefits in your copy. It's about getting your customer to visualize a positive experience with the product. Imagery is the most economical choice, but don't underestimate the value of a full-court content approach. Because at its core, the fall approach is all about connecting experience with aspiration and emotion. In practical terms, there's the "show, don't tell" principle at play here. Let's analyze.
Ostensibly, this is a notebook with a circle printed on it. But by walking readers through how they might use that circle to develop a movie plot, we get to imagine ourselves laying out our own ideas, safe in the support of the circle. The copy guides us from step to step, pushing our ideas forward and helping the story take shape. If and when you hit "Purchase," you're not buying the notebook, you're buying the chance to organize the creative chaos that lives within your mind (just me? fine).
I mean as long as we're using fall as a leading example, why not turn to the mecca itself, Target? These geniuses of the throw pillow outdid themselves with "4 ways to refresh your bar cart for fall." On its own, it's just a bar cart, but through a combination of strategically curated products and alliterative copy, it's four different fall experiences. It's your reading nook on wheels, rolling storage for "aromatic autumn meals," a moving vanity stocked with your makeup "fall favorites," and a bedside table adorned with fall florals. One might even say it's four chances to feel whole again.
Of course, the experiential element is infinitely easier (and more sellable) in a CPG context. But it's the B2B enterprise (and technology companies in particular) that miss out the most by foregoing the fall approach. While there's many a "follow the mouse and check out our interface" video haunting home page heroes, how effectively do these narratives connect with core, internal (usually emotional) motivations?
The next time you create something for your customers, keep the following in mind:
Are you giving people something to aspire to, to picture in their mind's eye?
Is there a pleasant scene they can crop themselves into?
Has your brand found its fall?
What's your favorite "experiential" marketing approach? Let me know in the comments!
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Be more engaging than snacks
The following is an excerpt from my newsletter, The Write of Way. If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to sign up here!
Can you spot the signs of pandemic semantic fatigue? You're looking at the screen, and certainly time has passed, but you've yet to actually land anywhere intellectually. Your eyes scan phrase after phrase as your mind turns to the dwindling supply of fatty snacks downstairs.
It's near-impossible to compete with thoughts of snacks. And yet here we are, rolling that boulder up the hill, day in and day out. It doesn't help that in the last two months, we seem to have confined ourselves to a select four or five turns of phrase that MUST preface any and all marketing communications.
Now more than ever - in these uncertain times - you know the ones!
I've used them as much as anyone else. But it's starting to feel like a Stage 1 kind of response, where you just want to say something thoughtful and eliminate any possibility of being an ass. But we all feel it. It's getting ... monotonous. It's becoming the text you scroll over, an invitation to zone out.
Specificity is almost always the antidote. Start with meaning. As a practice, whenever I feel I'm using a word too much, I look it up. (This is a fun test – do I even know what I'm saying?) Then, I take the definition and turn it into a question. That way, I can inch myself closer to translating a vague idea into a meaningful, relevant position someone might relate to. Let's workshop:
Step 1: Look it up
For example, "unprecedented."
Never done or known before
If you have the "well, actually," gene, this is the moment you realize ... pandemics aren't unprecedented! But back to the main point.
Step 2: Turn the definition into a question for your industry
As it relates to the industry/business I'm writing for, what specifically has never been done before? What do we know now that we didn't a month ago? What unknowns are we worrying about that we didn't even consider before (again, specifically as related to the industry)?
If you're going to use the word, you should be able to produce specific answers to these questions. And then those tailored ideas are what you should actually use in your copy, because "unprecedented" has become a cue to get bored and think about other things.
Step 3: Ask that same question of your customer
Now, what's something the customer of this business has never had to think about or understand before that is now on their mind? Again, we're trying to think of things specific to the offering, not just "wash hands more" (unless you're selling soap, I guess).
Step 4: Be more engaging than snacks (for a second anyway)
Once you're asking these questions, you're on the path to painting a picture of "unprecedented challenges" without inadvertently inviting the reader to ditch your effort and go get more Funyuns. Or you may find that unprecedented was never what you were really going for in the first place.
In conclusion, if you want to say something real, make meaning your compass.
Addressing your post – in podcast form.
I once wrote a blog post about how I hated podcasts. Well, what can I say? New year, new me. It’s called growth, people! My friend (and former Emory colleague) Rebbecca and I have been hard at work since this summer developing a podcast for PhDs interested in non-academic career paths. It’s called PostDoctoral, and it now has a trailer! Yay! Be sure to listen and share with all of your PhD friends.
And stay tuned for new episodes on all your favorite podcast sites, launching a week from today!
New article on The Everygirl!
Hello friends.
Be sure to check out my latest for The Everygirl, “Why You Don’t Need a Clear-Cut Career Path in 2019.” I’ve been a reader for six years and I’m so excited to be able to share some of my story (and research-loving nerdom) with The Everygirl audience!