As humans, we have a tendency to overcomplicate things sometimes. In business, that can prove to be a huge disadvantage. At Hotcow, we specialise in delivering brand experiences and we’ve noticed that businesses with a simple brand message often outperform their counterparts.
This might sound like marketing 101, but the trick is not to try and be all things to all people. By having a simple solution to a genuine issue facing your target audience, you’re already one step ahead of the game.
You only have to look to Apple’s simplistic marketing style for evidence of quite how important having a simple brand message is. According to reports, Apple is worth over $1trillion, so it’s vital that we appreciate their approach.
On the one hand, Apple creates a bunch of different tech products. All these products have varying specs, so why don’t we see loads of sales pages that list features and benefits? The answer is twofold.
Firstly, if Apple did this, these pages would scroll on and on forever.
Secondly, this approach makes life more difficult. Whilst one person may buy a smartphone because it has a camera with an HD camera, someone else might be after a device with loads of storage.
Essentially, this becomes impossible to market in a single message. Apple is great at understanding its customers, segmenting them and communicating a range of straightforward benefits. This leverages our emotions and gets people excited.
What’s interesting is that Apple doesn’t seem to talk about price much. Its marketing strategy is all about the brand message.
Welcome to the art of selling without selling.
In July 2016, some 14,000 consumers were asked to rate 857 brands based on their familiarity and simplicity of their communications. The top companies all offer a clear, connected identity and a very simple brand message.
We’re talking about the likes of Aldi, Lidl, Google, Netflix, Amazon and YouTube. When you stop and consider what these businesses are selling and how they’re communicating their offerings, you’ll notice a lot of similarities.
There’s no disconnect for the consumer. They are very clear about their USPs. And they have a set of very simple brand messages. All you need to do is speak to them directly and leverage their emotions.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
