Let's create sincere advertising!

2018-07-04

Imagine a tall, perfectly tanned girl wearing tight-fitting dress with shimmering hair and perfect make-up and eating ice cream, and an image of her is enhanced with photoshop in any other ways. Well, by comparison: a plump, humped, pale-faced girl eating the same ice cream. Which advertising would affect you more?

Enhancing the reality and spreading illusions is not a new phenomenon in advertising. Year after year, we look at ads with enhanced reality and spend money on fulfilling the illusions of a better life. But trends are changing and sincere, truthful advertising is increasingly coming out in public.

Tricks of advertisers

It is not a novelty that ad creators often use psychological tricks and manipulate consumer naivety when presenting a product or service. Here are some techniques known very well:

Fake facts and statistics. 9 out of 10 dentists use Colgate toothpaste and are very satisfied with it - who would doubt the opinion of professionals? Or the scandalous old ad Camel, which claimed that most smoking doctors prefer cigarettes of this brand. This could, of course, be quite possible, but the idea is spread automatically - if doctors smoke, smoking probably doesn't do much harm to health. Firm statements based on numbers seem much more convincing, and not everyone is in doubt for the lack of accuracy and concreteness of the facts.

Promises of happiness. It is not new that by purchasing this particular product or service you will be the happiest. No matter how old this idea is, it still works to this day: Chocolate "Pergale" is a true piece of joy and you will feel a taste of happiness with just a sip of Lipton tea, and Diesel clothes are the way to a happy life.

Limited quantity. The phrase "limited quantity of goods" enslaves immediately. True or not, it is a matter of urgency to purchase a product or service simply because it may disappear quickly. The best example here is various concerts. Immediately after the announcement of the upcoming artist, it is declared that the number of tickets is limited, so let's purchase it faster, after all, Bryan Adams may no longer come to Lithuania.

Known face. The Hollywood smile, the stars on the TV screen, the athletes, the singers, the stand-up comedians and opinion formers with their perfect looks - just their face next to the advertised item make us feel like pulling out our wallet. After all, it would be hard to achieve such sales if not that convincing look of Penélope Cruz in mascara advertising or the brothers Lavrinovich promoting ElektroMarkt with the thumbs-up.

Sincere Advertising - Mission (Not) Possible?

Actually - no. Sincere advertising, it turns out, is not even a new phenomenon in the advertising world and can bring more benefits than enhansing the information disseminated or hyperbolizing the benefits of the product and service. The breakthrough of open advertising took place in the 1960s. You may have heard how car rent company Avis trumphed in the market and win the hearts of its customers with sincerity. Remaining the second on the market, Avis did not allow itself to feel low and stay in a shadow - they communicated their failure to the world. With the slogan, "We were second. We should try more", not only did the car rental company acknowledge its defeat, but adding all sincerity, they turned this advertising campaign into one of the best campaigns of all time that lasted even for 50 years. Due to this strategic openness, the company's shares rose from 18% to 34% in the short term.

Another pioneer of sincerity in advertising - also from the car market. Volkswagen has surprised the world with its unique exclusive marketing campaign of Volkswagen Beetle. Instead of enhancing the reality, they came straight to the point of being ugly, lemon-shaped and impractically small. However, this highlighting of the flaws lifted this unexceptional "beetle" to the highest level and fixed Volkswagen's name in the history of the best commercials.

This clever strategic move, by frankly disclosing the weaknesses of brands, demonstrates openness to consumers and encourages trust in a brand that dares to recognize what could be better. As we get used to the adornments of branding in adverts, we are surprised when we hear more open words, and this kind of advertising gets stuck in our memory. Sincere advertising spreads the brand's self-confidence and thus attracts potential consumers - the truth seekers.

Times of the thruth seekers

Having learned from examples of open advertising in the past, sincere advertising is becoming more common today. Real estate advertises that, while externally ugly, buildings can boast a charming interior, and here's a soft drinks that straightforwardly admit they want to achieve their sales goals. It can also be called a breakthrough in humanity as brands gain the voice of a sincere person and brighten up this consumeristic world with openness rather than ordinary fantasies when looking through pink glasses.

The trust built: this is where the highest value comes from. Psychologists call the effect of such advertisements a hole effect - if the first impression was positive, then any further experience, whether with a person or with a brand, will be good. This means that if a brand already acknowledges its flaws, the benefits they mention will just have to be right. Of course, cynics may not call it sincerity, but rather "sincerity" - after all, this is even stronger manipulation. But in these times of illusion, a drop of truth, even when promoting goods or services, is not a stone in our garden.

If the illusions disappear

And now, let's try to imagine a world where all advertisements would start to say truth. Potato chips producers would admit that they were actually selling air in bags, antiperspirant advertisements would reveal that a good smell would leave white spots on their clothes, and McDonald's change from 'I'm countless.

The truth is that such a dose of openness not only causes a smile, but also buys us, after all, we were convinced that the strongest step for advertisers was keeping the user in the illusionary world. It has been customary for advertisements to focus on the positive qualities of the goods and services being advertised, and to disclose deficiencies is understood as appearing weak for consumers and competitors. But times are changing and sincerity in promotional confessions is slowly getting to the surface. I wonder if it ever conquer the world?