FCK: Drop the mask and cash in
Authenticity is one of the most over-utilised terms in marketing these days. Both brand managers and their agencies have emphatically shared different research pieces about how much customers value authentic brands. Yet few have actually dropped their happy-go-lucky veneers of positive communications for more vulnerable, self-deprecating and, at times, negative communications. In a commoditising and incredibly predictable landscape, it is increasingly hard to define and defend a brand’s unique selling proposition when there’s nothing truly distinctive about it. This struggle to communicate brand value in a compelling way – especially for those in the FMCG and retail categories – can certainly be addressed by brands communicating more than forceful smiles.
Those who watched Pixar’s animation will remember that four out of the five main characters represent negative emotions. Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness and Joy were not only fictitious characters, but the actual make-up of the most basic emotions hardwired in our brains. According to Julia Haber, clinical assistant professor of organisational behaviour at Fordham University, “[The] human tendency for negative bias evolved over time to help our ancestors survive by being responsive to potential threats. As such, negative stimuli in our brains are processed almost instantly, ensuring they are stored in our longterm memory.” On the other hand, positive experiences have to be held in the brain for at least 12 seconds before they are stored as long-term memories. And when capturing audiences’ attention is one of our biggest challenges, why not drop the mask and cash in? Or, in other words, it’s very easy to remember the last few bad experiences we may have had at a restaurant or hotel or high street. But we really need to make a concerted effort to remember a nice experience. And, realistically, experiencing something extraordinarily positive is not common and hardly cost-effective.
