for discussion: does the product define the message?
Here in the hallowed halls of Dog n Moon HQ, we’ve been having a discussion lately. Actually, let’s call a spade a spade: we’ve been having a debate. The point of contention?
We have been asked to sell coffee (more than once), plumbing, concerts, musicians, musical instruments, continuing education, faith & salvation, electronics, furniture, carpet, child development aides, arts & crafts, ideas, inspiration, and a whole host of other things. In each case, we spend time trying to learn the product as if we’d created it ourselves. Then we try to learn the market for which it was built. Then we spend some time trying to pinpoint the demographic to whom the product would most appeal. And then we decide on the best language to use. These seem like Advertising 101 to me. But if we unpack that last one, I think it’s more complex than we initially thought.
For instance, let’s take two products- a banana and a university- and compare the ways that we might sell them.
For starters, each one has obvious benefits to the user. The banana is rich in potassium which helps muscles recover after a workout. Besides being rich in B6, fiber, vitamin C, and magnesium, bananas are also considered a “good mood food” because of the natural serotonin and norepinephrine that could be of benefit to sufferers of depression. In the case of the university, those who care to find gainful employment will be more marketable after receiving a degree. Average annual income (based on the 2007 U.S. Census) goes from $32,500 for those with a high school diploma up to $53,000 for those with a bachelor’s degree. Obviously, Master’s Degree and Professional Degree holders would do much better financially.
Secondly, we’d consider the market.
To oversimplify, bananas are for just about everyone, college is for just about everyone.
Third, we pinpoint the target demographic.
In this case, to manufacture a close race, let’s say our target is people who are in a point in life where they’d like to make a change. Our core message will be, “You are unhealthy/unmoving and x (x = banana/university) will make life more rewarding for you.”
Lastly, we consider the language.
This is where we define the personality of the campaign. It’s also where client/agency relationships get stressed, where agencies earn their money, where superstar ad guys and girls are created, and where the romance of advertising lives. We could attack a banana from a dozen angles. Heck, there’s the first campaign by accident. What of we mocked up hundreds of gladiators going to war using bananas for swords. It’s the only weapon you’ll need to win today’s mental and physical battles. Or we could take the clean and clinical approach: 10 out of 10 doctors prefer bananas to apples each day. OR something clinical but clever: An apple a day keeps the doctor wishing you ate more bananas. As for the university, we could do the same thing. We could extoll the virtues in a clinical way, or we could appeal to the youthful rejuvenation that comes with being inspired by education and possibility.
Here’s where the snag hits. There is a culture that tells us that universities are sacred ground. Universities are gateways to core virtues like success, responsibility, integrity, and virtue. The result of that is that university clients often feel like any ad campaign that is taken lightly would do harm to the virtue and sobriety (irony alert) of a 4-year accredited school of higher education (pun alert).
We have pitched ad campaigns to multiple universities before and we have almost always come back to the office with the same feelings. Each time, we’ve felt like the school is too close to the product. The people who are coming to college are either a) teenagers or b) people who are ready to do something drastic to make a life change. These fields are fertile for some unconventional messaging. Having said that, I would argue that one of the main goals of advertising is to get potential customers to engage. NOT to list the entire feature set of a product in bullet-list format on the first advertisement. Remember that the relationship between ad and potential customer is similar to that between two people dating. On the first date (first ad), you want the other person to see intrigue and beauty (inner or outer). You want him or her to believe that life would tangibly improve by continuing the relationship. And then you want him or her to be willing to meet again, to engage (not get engaged, unless in this case the product is AOL…). And dating experts would agree that one of the fastest ways to kill a potential love connection would be to say too much about yourself on the first date. So an ad campaign that is outside, quirky, and full of possibilities might be just what the doctor ordered.
As for the debate around here, I will admit that my personality leans towards the quirky side. Bright orange patent leather chairs are the perfect piece of furniture and I will save up to buy a pair of vintage flared bottom jeans on ebay (even though tapered jeans are all the rage right now). I believe that people want to be moved. People want to be lifted from the normalcy of their own lives and their senses would prefer to be tickled by words and imagery that extends beyond their everyday conversations with family members and coworkers. The whole point of advertising is to offer people possibilities, no?
Let’s try a test. From where you’re sitting right now, close your eyes and picture a figure coming to take you to the future. He or she is on a soft and billowing floating carpet. It stops in front of you and he or she extends a hand to help you on board. What words are used to assure you that the future is brighter? Is it something fantastic? Is it something inspiring? Is it something that MAKES YOU WANT TO GET ON THE FREAKIN’ CARPET? I think yes. As a small business owner, manufacturer, advertising agency, freelance designer, PR Department Mgr. (Hi, Chalise), you have the opportunity to be the figure extending that hand to others. When the carpet stops, you have one chance to to say the right thing to the passenger you’re trying to collect. You have one chance to say something worthwhile. You have one chance to get them to engage. Which words will you choose?
1 commentsummer update
It has been since December that we’ve posted an update. We figured a quick glimpse into some of our work is long overdue. Not only have we been busy as usual with design, but plenty of other creative ventures as well. The only bad part of the last 6 months has been an April 1st hard drive crash that left us empty handed and brought business to an absolute standstill for weeks. You can imagine how NOT funny it was to have to explain to clients that, “no. This is not, in fact, an April Fool’s joke”. But, alas, three weeks and $1,900 in data recovery later, we were back up to speed with an arsenal of data backups to make sure we never have to experience that again. Our deepest apologies to all of the clients who were affected. We are doing our best to make it up to you in the second half of 2009.
Heading into the summer, we are trying to make sure that this blog doesn’t go dormant and then wake with a hail of artwork twice a year. Additionally, we are in the preparatory stages to expand what we do at Dog n’ Moon. We are excited about the next 90 days and look forward to sharing it with you.
In closing, we are reminded again that the reason we continue to come to work each day at Dog n’ Moon is because we believe that the world doesn’t have to be mundane, boring, pedestrian, or lifeless. We have exactly one chance to live life and we aim to inject some creative fire into the minutiae of life. From the way we wake each morning to the way we interact with those around us- and certainly to the way we do business and communicate with our customers, life deserves to be as rich and dynamic as we can possibly make it.
Happy Summer to all of you,
-the Dog n’ Moon collaborative team.
summer update (1 of 7) • b4 I die
A Costa Mesa, CA megachurch hired us to build the visuals for a recent sermon series. The premise was that each person has their own “bucket list” of things that they want to accomplish before dying. In coming up with the message, we racked our brains making our lists just to see which ones were more universal. Beyond that, part of the brainstorming was to find archetypes of bucket list events. The one that we kept coming back to was The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. It seems like one of those things people wax poetic about doing before they die. We chose it as one of the central visual messages of the campaign.
summer update (2 of 7) • celebration
Azusa Pacific University sends out a team of musicians each summer on a tour of the nation. This is the second year that we’ve had the pleasure of designing their concert posters for the venues. A very nice compliment to us- they were unable to choose between the designs and opted to send two of these to press.
summer update (3 of 7) • H.E.A.P.
The Community Action of Ventura County folks asked us to build some posters that would be placed inside city buses in Ventura County. The message was to promote their Home Energry Assistance Program for low-income residents, which is a project to help residents improve their home for better energy conservation. It’s good for the residents and ultimately it helps the State of California in times of economic and energy crisis. In the pat, some of the ads featured despondent and downtrodden people, but we chose to use more uplifting and empowering visuals.
summer update (4 of 7) • rosy fusion project/ “hear now!”
Not only were we hired to do the artwork for this music project, but our very own Corey Witt played guitars and wrote two of the six songs on this jazz fusion project by Rosy Rosenquist. For our directions, Rosy pointed out that he loved clean spaces, zen-like tranquility, and stark whites. But he also wanted us to make sure that the exclamation point in the title was a point of interest as well. He liked the idea that one could be in a place of peace but also feel compelled into action by the music. For the last comp, we took some liberty with the title, changing “hear now!” to “you are hear!”- a more existentialist approach to the same message. Rosy spent 9 months in Japan and really fell in love with Japanese culture. We tried to build at least one idea that brought those visuals to the table- and lo and behold, he chose it. Alternate comps are below.
summer update (5 of 7) • international music institute
This was for a project for Azusa Pacific University’s International Music Institute. We put together two quick ideas. They chose the second because of the depth and richness of the visuals.
summer update (6 of 7) • opera in english
A local university hired us to advertise their most recent musical, which was to be a retelling of some classic stage shows in a new and unique way. The main stage elements were large geometric shapes and most of the costumes were created in shades of grey. The toned-down visuals were meant to make the music and the story the focus, as opposed to the pomp and circumstance of the normal stage fanfare. These were meant to be “tangible”, user-friendly renditions of well-loved stories. We chose to build the artwork to convey that same message.
summer update (7 of 7) • thank you cards
For this project, we were asked to build some stock thank you cards that a local megachurch could send out to its volunteers and helpers. They had to be non-event-specific and as close to gender neutral as possible. Here are the comps for the project.
i’ve seen a million faces, and i’ve rocked them all…
Normally, we wouldn’t quote a Bon Jovi song from 1987 but- well… yes. Yes we would.
The last update to the Dog n’ Moon World Headquarters blog was in June. It’s now December and we’re fresh off a Fall Tour to 19 US states over 8 weeks. As you can imagine, it’s difficult to keep the home fires burning. Ironically enough- a flight from DC landed just in time to get home, swap out clothes in the suitcase with fresh ones, and get evacuated from the SoCal Wildfares that were dangerously close to DnM World HQ.
Initially when we started Dog n’ Moon, it was a small graphic design outfit mainly doing personal websites and business items like cards and letterhead. But over the last decade or so, we’ve been fortunate enough to meet some amazing clients and colleagues that resulted in positive growth for the company. Now, not only do we continue to do visual design, but we have become quite adept at exercising the creative muscles for product launches, worldwide ad campaigns, and local environmental design. We still call ourselves a “boutique agency” and nobody here drives a fancy car or wears fancy suits, but we have had the blessing of being able to manage and drive a number of campaigns that span the globe and extend scope of what creatives do for a living.
Case in point, next month marks the 2-year anniversary of our relationship with Taylor Guitars, based in El Cajon, CA. Our duties with them involve some print work and tradeshow assistance, but mainly doing in-person point-of-sale advertising. It’s one thing to build an ad and pay to have it run in a publication for six months. That kind of advertising takes strategy and skill and a healthy dose of creativity. However, grassroots advertising to support an established brand is a unique way to do advertising on the fly. The good news is that it’s not sales. We are not responsible for turning a conversation into a transaction. That removes the listeners’ fears of agenda-based cordiality and opens up the opportunity to creatively discuss a product’s benefits and feature set. In addition to giving us opportunity to travel, it also teaches us to be better communicators. In advertising, it’s possible to see the viewer as the last link in the chain- and to put too much weight on the brilliance of the message or medium. One-on-one conversations remind us that advertising is simply a conversation in print, but no less needy of clarity, patience, goodwill, and brevity.
