Because I'm Your Mother That's Why.

Just about every commercial I see being trumpeted on LinkedIn or Agency Spy (I never see anything on real TV that isn't for a telco, an ISP or for a pharmaceutical) seems to be built on the premise that we should believe what brands tell us. That we should trust them.

I don't understand.

They give the viewer no reason to believe. They just expect us to be believe. Without a reason why.

It seems the underlying strategy is "believe us because we're a brand, that's why." Most people--newsflash--distrust brands. All those commercials that open with a brand's logo, just turn people off. 

If you start with the premise that there's no difference between brands so why try to find one, you've just, as far as I'm concerned, thrown in the towel and said, "I believe style is more important than substance." You've also just negated the fundamental core of just about every great ad, commercial or communication that's ever been made.

I just saw this new campaign for Wilkinson Sword, a razor brand I haven't even thought of since the early 1970s, before I started shaving. The commercials aren't bad. But I'm not unhappy with the blades I use. And you've given me absolutely no reason to, in the words of Adam Morgan, upset my dominant complacency. You've given me no sense of doubt that there's something better out there--and why. You've given me no sense that I might be missing out on something.

I'd guess, there's a habitual aspect to buying blades. To some extent, you buy the blades you've always bought. You barely think about it, you barely question your own behavior. Without giving you a reason to question, the Wilkinson Sword commercial above, is as flat as a plate of piss. 

In the words of Carl Ally, it "neither afflicts the comfortable nor comforts the afflicted.

Here's another example. 

Another nice-looking ROE (rectangle of emptiness.)

This is not a great ad. 
It's a nice-looking ad.
But when I go to the store to buy pasta, I will never say, give me the fireworks pasta. Because any pasta could do that ad. Any pasta can wish you happy new year. And any pasta can say--with no ballast--'the choice of Italy'. Generic.

This is a great ad.

And a nice-looking ad.
It's an ad only Porsche could run. 
It has the same essential elements as the Barilla ad above. 
A good photograph. Just a few words.
These words, though, are true. Ownable.
They reinforce the specialness of Porsche.
They separate Porsche from every other car. 
Cars grow old. Porsches appreciate.

Wow.

The essential idea here is simple.
Your ad can have a gimmick. A funny actor, a nice bit or art-direction, a song. Or it can have a soul.

If what your ad has is merely a gimmick, to my eyes it falls under the heading of "because we're a brand, that's why." 

It's buy a Verizon triple-play bundle because we say so. Or Speculum high-speed internet because we say so. Or anything else because we say so.

Without a believable truth, your ad is just a say so.

There's no reason for it to lodge in your brain.

Take it from me.

I've won 16 Effies.

--

By the way, if you still don't get what I mean, not long ago, Dave Dye had a post that included about 100 ads created by Roy Grace. 

This is what I mean.