Advertising
"Possibilities": The New Non-Promise
It?s not uncommon in our business to witness curious, if not downright ridiculous trends in advertising. Lately we?ve seen our share. Take the hard yet hollow, and some would say disturbing, mascots for Burger King, Quaker Oats, and Travelocity. There?s something just not right about seeing the Burger King in bed with an unsuspecting sleeping guy. What?s it all mean? Is Burger King coming out of the closet? Meanwhile, the stiff Quaker Oat?s Quaker and Travelocity Yard Gnome (oh, and by the way, the Yard Gnome first appeared in Ford spots), simply pop up out of nowhere without explanation. Memorable? Maybe. Effective at selling product or building market share? A decisive ?No?. In each example, all three companies are reporting meager increases as a result of their agencies? self-indulgence.
The most recent trend is not so ?hard? or tangible. In fact it?s about as opposite to tangible as it gets. It?s the concept of ?Possibilities.? It?s very popular at the moment, and it?s been adopted by some of the biggest brands around: Target, Ford, Campbell?s, Domino?s. At least Domino?s tells you what they mean by possibilities. You can get your choice of pizza with your choice of extras. You can mix and match any way you like. Simple.
For the other companies? Let?s just say it?s not so simple.
Ford places the famous-for-a-day (ok, a couple months maybe) ?American Idol? celebrity, Taylor Hicks on a flashy ?Who Wants to be a Millionare? knock-off stage. He sings like he?s going to burst a blood vessel about ?getting what he wants, and getting what he needs?. It?s louding and annoying like most bad car advertising, but out of nowhere Taylor adds the word ?possibilities? to the end of his song. What the...? Where?d that word come from? Besides the fact that he says ?possibilidees?, the word and more importantly the idea is stuck in there without context ? dangling there at the end waiting for an explanation that never comes. Sure, it sounds kind of cool in there. It sets up an expectation. The problem is it doesn?t really say exactly what that is.
Campbell?s Soups has a jingle for ?possibilities?. They?ve taken their infamous ?Mmmm, Mmmm, Good? and morphed it into a soft rap ?Mmmm, Mmmm, Possibilities?. The spot shows people on the go, eating Campbell?s. As the viewer you see soup and happy people. But the word ?possibilities? has been added at the end of the jingle for you to fill in the blanks. I guess if I wanted soup served to me by three dancing bears dressed in red satin on top of Mt. Everest to the tune of ?I Like Big Butts?, that would be one of the possibilities.
Even the popular Target spots have taken up the ?possibilities? charge. And like Ford and Campbell?s, the word ?possibilities? is stuck in there at the end with no explanation or connection to anything else in the spot.
The thing about the concept of ?possibilities? is that it sounds great, and creates an anticipation for seemingly limitless good things ahead. It?s all good, right? That?s why everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. Deeper in, however, is the fact that these companies are actually promising nothing tangible. ?Possibilities?, as it turns out, is a feint, a slight of hand. It is the industry?s newest, and biggest ?non-promise?. It?s hard to be accountable for something if you never really promised anything to begin with.
Speaking of slight of hand, don?t be surprised then, in the next election season when one or more politicians uses ?Possibilities? as their platform and we see it plastered behind them as they ?non-promise? us the world.
So the next time you see ?Possibilities? in advertising, understand this.... if it is alone and dangling it?s because the minute it is explained, it becomes a promise. And promising something is hard work. It means commitment and follow through.
The irony of the whole thing is that a real promise is much more effective in gaining business, changing attitudes and stealing market share.
***
Randall Jones -
Chief Creative Officer -
Stealing Share, Inc.,
and Partner
Slice Advertising, a
division of Stealing Share, Inc. -
ranj@stealingshare.com
About Stealing Share -
Stealing Share is a global strategic and brand planning firm that focuses on giving clients meaning to their brand so they can change customer behavior. Client services include analysis, research, advertising, collateral, design and actionable plans designed to steal market share from competitors by pinpointing what is meaningful to target audiences and can be positioned against the competition. More information can be found at www.stealingshare.com or by calling 336-389-9315.
Randall Jones
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