I spent, I drank, I ate, I floated in the ocean, and I checked up on my favourite brands on Instagram and Facebook. And so did all my friends. We interacted with them, we shared them and liked their content. We all loved it. That is exactly what social media is for.
Then, after spending the day on the beach, I uncontrollably bought some stuff that I had seen on some very hard working advertising. You know the ones with a picture of the product and a motivating intrinsic message. Those ads get me every time. I can’t help myself. I think about them when I wake up in the mornings and tell my friends about them. Then I rush out and buy them.
My favourite time to really think about things like my favourite beer brand is when I’ve been on the beach all day, then struggled to find parking and it’s hot, and I am sweaty. The bottle store is too full and young, pretty people are walking around in their bathers. This is the time I choose to read how the different beers are made. Which one will be most refreshing? I really like to think about how many hops I want my beer to be brewed with and which style of beer it should be. Then, when I’ve chosen my beer thoughtfully I walk up and down the aisles of the super market. It is, after all, holiday time and I have extra time to kill. Sometimes, if I am not sure about which brand to buy I’ll engage with all the options on their Facebook pages, I seek out their content. Which soft drink is the best with meals? I could stand in the deodorant aisle for hours. Which deo will offer me the most confidence? I always recall the visualization and graphics those guys use on their TV ads when they demonstrate how and where to spray the deodorant. It’s not only useful, it is really informative. I love the molecule shots that show the chemical composition of deodorant. That’s how I choose my toothpaste, deodorant, washing powder and fuel for my car. And car, if I were going to buy one.
We all do. We think deeply about these things. We spend hours pondering them. We read about the different options. We don’t simply make instant decisions. That’s why our Facebook timeline is filled with brands we liked and why we follow so many brands on Instagram. Because we care. It’s called Brand love. If we didn’t spend so much time thinking about which brands to buy, what could we possibly do with our time?
I hope that 2016 is the year that we, as an industry, and marketers remember that what we are meant to do is inspire, motivate and entertain real people. People who spent their summer holiday laughing, chatting to friends and sharing on Instagram and Facebook, sleeping and watching TV. Yes, watching TV.
If we can remember that, every time we do something, we will have so much more to offer, and the flimsy, nonsensical theories we hear everyday will be destroyed by simple common sense.
