The Recipe for Marketable Content
Offering A Solution to a Problem
A product or service cannot always sell itself on its own. If it did, then there would be no need for advertisers or marketers for any product ever. Selling anything to another person is a hard task because it involves convincing another person why your product or service is exactly what they want or need. There are different ways to relay your message, whether it involves presenting that message in an entertaining format or through a new medium. However, those presentations will fall flat if you cannot tell your audience about what your product is, and how they benefit from it.
People will ignore what they think they don’t need. So, it’s your job to tell them why they need your product. Marketers and salespeople alike often refer to the problems that need their product as a solution as a ‘pain point‘. And, a good salesman and marketer know how to press on that pain point in order to get people to pay attention.
Done Right
In September of 2017, the Coca-Cola company launched an ad that shifted the focus from their titular product to their company identity as a whole. The voiceover of the ad explained that they offered more than just Coke. They showcased Smart Water, Honest Water, Odawalla, and other types of drinks in their portfolio to illustrate their product range for the variety of needs that come with a person’s drink choice. They also highlight their ties with local communities through the number of people they hire, their water sustainability program, and their scholarship programs.
This ad perfectly illustrates the different needs of the customer base that they are trying to reach. The ad also illustrates how they satisfy the needs of local communities, through visual examples of employment, educational, and environmental outreach. This is most likely to cement their reputation as a brand that is good for the community in an attempt to get as many people as they can to gain a preference for their product line.
Their shift away from the soft drink aspect of the company couldn’t have come at a better time for them. Sodas are dropping in popularity over the last few years, thanks to local governments and the younger generations becoming more health conscious. Coca-Cola is proving to those who are watching that they are capable of diversifying and surviving in the up and coming millennial influencer market.
Done Wrong
The Side Hustle Campaign from Uber always bugged me. Almost to the level that the Kylie Jenner Pepsi Ad bugged me. I think it is because it strikes me as something just as tone deaf.
The driver in the commercial points out that “everyone needs a side hustle” before dancing in his car to a song that was written for the commercial. He smiles and points out when he is chilling, working or earning with each scene afterward. The tone of the ad gives the impression that driving for Uber is less of a second job and more of a cute hobby.
Last I checked, most people don’t take second or third jobs just for the heck of it, and they certainly don’t always enjoy them to the extent of the people in the commercial. We take those jobs because we are trying to enter a job market during a time of an economic depression. In fact, the Washington Post even pointed out that the need for a side gig and the participation of a shared economy is a symptom of a much bigger economic problem.
But this commercial doesn’t even address the reason why anyone would need a side hustle, much less the guy in the ad. He looks like he has a stable income, a nice house and not a care in the world. He doesn’t look like he really needs any of it. It doesn’t even sound like a solution to any problem. The commercial just advertises that Uber exists.
