The Secret to Making Them Smile

These days it seems advertisers feel like they must shock the audience in order make an impact. The biggest fear seems to be that no one will remember the ad they poured weeks of their lives into, and indeed, at least one agency was fired for failing to meet this criteria. This fear has become more pronounced as advertisers learned that people generally don't like watching 30-second spots that much anymore. The audience will even skip them, if they can, through DVRs or some other means, and if they can't skip them, they'll tune them out by channel surfing or by ignoring them.

The problem with the shock-first approach is that it gets harder and harder to shock people through advertising, so the bar keeps getting raised, putting agencies and their clients at risk of offending people, as happened with the recent flack over the GM robot-"suicide" ads. I think this approach is generally (but not absolutely) unnecessary. Advertisers should concern themselves less with shocking people with 30-second spots and more with simply delighting them with effective service. 

I came to this realization when I came home from work a couple of weeks ago. My daughter, Faith, was sitting in a bouncy chair, and I immediately attempted to make her smile. To my surprise and delight, she did so right away, but at this point, though I was leaning that way, I wasn't absolutely convinced her expression was actually an emotion instead of gas.

Therefore, I tried to duplicate the feat by putting on the same performance I gave her before, but didn't impress her. By this time, I was desperate to get a smile out of her. My wife had already seen her smile, but she noted that by the evening, Faith was already exhausted and grumpy, so I always had to miss it.

One of the great things about babies is that they are a blank slate. There will be the first time she ever hears each joke, and, in this case, there was a first time she ever was subjected to a game of "peek-a-boo." Stunned by the response I got (That old trick worked?), I did it again and again. It didn't get old! I jumped up and down like an CareerBuilder monkey until I calmed down enough to grab the camera and take this shot.

I freely admit that there will be a time when peek-a-boo becomes an ineffective tool. But it's important to realize the reason why it continues to be effective now. Faith doesn't enjoy it because it's inherently funny (or surprising), but because it demonstrates I can pay attention to her in a manner that she understands and craves.

Similarly, your customers and potential customers will also appreciate your paying attention to their needs. Don't worry so much about shocking them. Just engage with them in a way they understand and want. - Cam Beck

One more thing: I would be remiss not to use this space to thank Lewis, CK and David Reich, all of whom helped inspire this post. It's been a crazy week... I apologize for forgetting to give credit on my first pass.

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

Looking through the eyes of a child is a great way to determine whether your ad/messaging/engagement is working.

It is easy to forget this ... or get caught up in fancy executions. In this day and age a smile is a remarkable thing ... and isn't that our aim -- to be remarkable? If not, maybe it should be.

[Drew McLellan]

I always find it fascinating that the worst offender in the "advertising needs to be entertaining/shocking" campaign is our own industry.

It flies in the face of every shred of marketing sense that we try to help our clients understand.

Clearly a "do what I say, not what I do" lesson.

Drew

[CK]

I've been looking for this post of that beauty.

So great that you thank me...when I thanked you for making my week when you sent me this great pic of Faith (psst: that pic needs to be TWICE as big...she's just too cute, Cam. it's the quintessential pic of happiness).

I love what you say about not needing shock value...just delight them. It's so true. I just covered a baby-boomer commercial in my corner and what I love about it is that it bypasses the 'fear of not being ready' or 'safe' message and instead opts for inspiration. That's a happy message. Full of opportunity.

Now...when do we see the pic of you doing the monkey dance?

[Gavin Heaton]

I am with CK ... where is that monkey dance pic? Or better, send me a YouTube link ;)

[David Reich]

A beautiful post.

I'm going through the stages of development with my grandson -- my first grandchild. Every day there's something new they're doing. Each of those "baby steps" makes you stop and think what a wonder life is. It quickly puts any of the craziness in business or in life into perspective.

It's a great ride you're on. Enjoy every moment of it.

[Ann Handley]

Cam-- Where to start? Your cute baby's face.. or the larger message?

First -- Faith is ADORABLE!

Second -- nice message: "Faith doesn't enjoy it because it's inherently funny (or surprising), but because it demonstrates I can pay attention to her in a manner that she understands and craves..." Great connection you drew there.

[Lewis Green]

Cam,

Thank you for the picture, which made my day; the shout out; and sharing this great story.

I know you are reading "Messages That Stick". I finished it several months back. Advertising agencies should be required to read it. Don't shock us! Just share a smile and a message that resonates.