For years advertisers have held fast the mantra of; ‘selling the sizzle -not the bacon’. The product or experience usually takes second stage to the stylish surroundings or incredibly beautiful woman or handsome man indulging in it. This is especially true for airlines, tourism and - who thrive on the concept of ‘luxury’ - a term so overused it now works equally well for supermarkets or super yachts.
Take airlines as an example. They can’t possibly portray a real flight; tradition dictates that they continue to punt the fantasy of flawless luxury - or at the very least a heavily disguised version of the truth. Most airline films and photography in truth look the same; over-styled crews handing out champagne flutes to clean-cut models with fixed grins. Beautifully balanced towers of food that wouldn’t survive even the mildest lurch of turbulence and a general sense of stage management that homogenises all airlines into one impossibly perfect vision, delineated only by the color of the crew’s lipstick.
We are all well aware of the reality of commercial flight. Passengers rarely dress in their finest clothes–usually opting for comfort over fashion, they don’t always look serene (however fast asleep they may be) and very few children are dutifully playing with a branded model plane.
When customers step into an actual plane, any level of over promise can only lead to disappointment. This is not so in the imaginary world of perfume or fashion – where sizzle is everything and marketers can get away with selling the idea of glamour; ‘if the clothes don’t make you look like Giselle, that not’s the clothes fault’.
Content marketing and digital are different to advertising through television, cinema, radio and print. People will accept the fantasy of a brand while escaping into the big screen but they generally go online to book, review, and weigh-up their options. The last thing people need is advertising spin here. Telling the truth as a brand is not new. But until now it has been only one of a set of approaches for an advertising strategy.
The other option - ignoring the truth altogether, or at the very least interpreting it "creatively" – has for a long time been the preferred choice. Along with that, the role of advertising agencies has often been to find a way to spin the truth or to distract from it.
This was fine so long as the main broadcasting voice to the consumer was advertising-led and therefore controllable. This is no longer the case. In this age, a brand's image is not solely dependent on a carefully crafted advertising message, but on the conversations and experiences of millions of consumers whom engage with it. Social media has meant, those experiences and conversations are public and open. The public price-check, fact-check and cross-check so it’s become hopeless for brands to use advertising to present spin to customers. Its amazing how many still do.
In this era of authenticity and absolute transparency, consumers demand truth so the best way to sell things is to just tell the truth. Half a century ago David Ogilvy said: "The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife". Now, she is an expert with a smartphone who can find out as much as she wants about whatever you’re offering in a matter of minutes, through sources you don’t control. If the truth doesn't match what the advertising portrays then the brand hasn't just lost a sale, it has potentially lost a customer for a lifetime.
Brands who have a process for telling the truth are likely to sell more products, make more money, keep more customers and, most importantly, maintain their loyalty. It's finally time to eradicate any notion still lingering from the supposed golden days of the past that the role of advertising is to ‘sell the sizzle’ - or even worst to put lipstick on the pig.
The truth is the future of successful marketing.
By Barnaby Girling, Creative Director at Alpha Century.
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