Earth vs Sky

When do you sell product tangibles and when do you sell the brand experience? 

As a brand strategist who values both the power to persuade and the power to inspire, I think the answer is always “do both at the same time.”  Recently, I was helping a major food and beverage manufacturer assess some creative that was heavily product-centric.  The result:  A very credible, honest assertion about the product that left consumers saying “o.k… but why should I care?”  I told the client that they should be applauded for an effort to get real amidst a sea of fluffy, unsubstantiated advertising.  But our discovery was that we needed this work to do more than just talk about a product truth. 

Great advertising (and great brands) help consumers link products to a bigger, more visionary and exciting experience.  The truly iconic brands are the “lifestyle” brands… meaning they’ve helped people integrate their products into what they want their lives to be about on a broader level.  So… we’re back to the drawing board.  We’re keeping the honest product truth in the next round.  But this time we’re using it as a spring board to an elevated experience so the product plays a supporting role in what really matters most:  the consumer’s life and how they can get the most out of it!