Is it Time to Call Time on the Call to Action?
Have we grown tired of being told what to do by brands?
Just Do It and Think Different, the OG taglines that captured the public's imagination and inspired us all to go on to do more interesting things. Two iconic and enduring brand lines that spawned 30 years worth of imitators. After 3 decades has the public finally grown tired of being told what to do by brands? Is it time to call time on the call to action?
When soft drink manufacturers demand we 'Live for Now.' Banks encourage us to "Live Richly" and wifi networks command us to "Live Better," is the audience inspired to live or are they livid?
Or how about a fashion retailer telling you to 'Make Your Own Moment', or a beer requiring you to 'Love Every Moment', potato chips demanding you 'Grab Every Moment' and a linen company imploring us all to 'Make Every Moment Meaningful.'
Find Your Greatness, Find Your Freedom, Find Your Paradise. Find Your Fast, Find Your Magic, Find Your Edge. Find Your Colour, Find Your Flavour, Find Your Future. Find Your Journey. Find New Roads. Find Your Princess, Find Your Morning Love. Find Your Wanderlust. Find Your Way, Find Your Way Back. All genuine messages, from genuine household brand names. Do we find these inspiring or have brands been found out?
Has the pervasive use of brand taglines that tell people what to do desensitized consumers and therefore diminished their impact? When every brand is urging individuals to go out there and do something, find something or live for something, do those messages blend together and become noise? A noise that fails to engage, nevermind inspire. Have people become immune to these generic prompts and do brands risk being perceived as shallow and unoriginal?
In 2016 Unilever replaced The Axe Effect, a 20 year campaign that promoted the somewhat dubious claim that the fragrance would attract the opposite sex with 'Find Your Magic', a campaign line that encouraged men to embrace their individuality and find confidence in their unique qualities. Post campaign, Axes's US market share declined by nearly 1% and The Axe Effect was reintroduced 12 months later. Is this an indicator that consumer fatigue is starting to set in?
So what's the alternative? Maybe it's time brands started to give back instead of telling people what to do. What if brands shared what they can do for you or celebrated their brand values instead of 'inspiring us all to live a better life.'
It's not an original approach, there are enduring examples where brands have consistently championed what their product is or what they can do for you.
Finger Lickin' Good, first heard in the 1950's still echoes around town, compelling people to dig deep into the bucket for a chicken experience like no other. Avis's "we try harder" are three words that created a sense of trust and loyalty among customers. Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" focused solely on the product, emphasizing the size and quality of their burgers and becoming a cultural phenomenon in the process.
The Power of Dreams and Vorsprung Durch Technik, two timeless taglines that embody the soul of the company and evoke consumer emotion through creativity of execution. Booking.com, Booking.Yeah alludes to the elation you feel after using the service and 'A British Original' is intended as a celebration of the airline's people, customers and the nation as a whole. All brand statements that people feel good to be associated with versus direct instructions from a brand.
"You're not you when you're hungry" and 'Shot on Iphone" are examples that illustrate what the brand or product can do for you. Would they be more effective if rewritten as a call to action? Something along the lines of "Unleash Satisfaction" or "Capture life with the iphone." I'll leave that for you to ponder.
The most successful brand platforms are giving versus telling. Let's not bark instructions at people, let's share what brands can do for you. Next time you're asked "but what's the CTA? How will consumers know what to do?" maybe we respond with another question, "what can we do for them?"