All Bark, No Bite

Conversations don’t always have to be loud to be meaningful. Society has proven time and again that some of the smartest, most impactful exchanges have taken place in quiet rooms, between people whose names may never make the headlines.

But here’s the rub: whether the conversation is quiet or nothing short of theatrical, it’s got to drive action. Otherwise, it’s just noise.

The smartest conversations don’t just drive action, but the precise sort of action a brand or business hopes to inspire, whether it’s attracting clients, customers, investors or talent.

Of course, this doesn’t only apply to business, that’s just the sector that pays our bills. Take the recent US Presidential debate (sorry, we won’t spend long on it): both candidates managed to drive an astronomical volume of conversation, but – tragically – only one managed to inspire the majority of American voters. Importantly, it’s not simply that the Harris campaign failed to generate enough positive conversation about her character and policy to motivate a result in her favour, but that a deluge of unambiguous reporting of Trump’s shortcomings also failed to drive a different result.

In the words of Max Read: “One of the more depressing things (among many!) about the re-election of Donald Trump is that everything necessary has already been said about the man – his politics, his strategy, his character, his coalition(s), etc., at great length, and in great volume.”

And yet, here we are. Watching our Crypto and Tesla holdings shoot through the roof and languishing in self-loathing.

Let’s switch up examples for a palette cleanser: what about Snoop Dogg’s ‘quitting smoke’ campaign? It didn’t exactly sell grills. It did drive awareness, but for the brand? No. For Snoop. When it comes to crafting messages and moments that yield the intended result, it’s not just about the bark; it’s about the bite.

So what makes some conversations huge drivers of behavioural change and others about as effective as a gentle breeze in the springtime? A lot, really.

But in our world, it starts by working with the client to understand very clearly what that desired change – the bite – looks lik. Otherwise we’re just shouting in the wind.

Check the full issue for even more on this!

1. Act

Not all conversations are created equal, and not all big, bold actions are going to get you the result you actually need. There are plenty of examples of creative work that wins awards and doesn’t move product and plenty of political campaigns that have gone awry only to see the supposed disgraced figure elected (ahem).

To understand the right actions that will spark a smarter conversation for your business – one that actually delivers the results you need – it’s worth looking at the big conversations that didn’t achieve their goal. Understanding the pitfalls to avoid will help you narrow down your options when the time comes.

Let's talk confirmation bias

Some big conversations can be so loud they drown out the feedback that your audience beyond your immediate circle is giving. Often, when we have a hypothesis or belief, we are more predisposed to notice evidence that supports our theory rather than negates it: it’s why once you start looking at a new car, you’ll always see that car on the street.

Confirmation bias can lead t0 some seriously unexpected results in conversations: you see it crop up a lot after political campaigns when certain states are absolutely convinced a party will not get elected, because they’ve only been paying attention to the voters that share their view. Loud conversations can be isolating unless you’re making a point to listen to everyone who is talking. It’s also a pitfall a lot of brands fall into when they seek industry award accolades, or shares from massive influencers who aren’t actually that influential with their purchasing audience.

THE SNOOP DOGG THEORY

Did we make the name up? Maybe, but that’s not the point.

Let’s say you’re launching a brand or a product and there’s the opportunity to collaborate with someone huge, like, larger than your brand huge. Famous. There might be a clever tie-in, say like, you’re trying to flog a smokeless BBQ and Snoop Dogg’s willing to get up there — for a princely sum — and tell everyone he’s giving up smoke. Huge, right? Remember that?

The issue was that despite gaining a bit of brand awareness — 60,000 new Instagram followers, sure, but you’d hope so for the price they paid him — they failed to spark the thing they needed: sales.

More examples in our full issue, right here.

2. Explain

Something that goes wrong a hell of a lot of the time is that marketers become so excited by a big message they forget to actually tie it back to anything relevant for the behaviour that they’re trying to change.

Sometimes that’s a very straight forward call-to-action in the copy; in TV world it’s the tune-in; for this email it’s clicking the link at the very bottom and factoring some extra spend on earned media next calendar year.

But it’s not always that blunt, nor does it have to be.

You can throw all the money you want into the product, into the campaign, but if customers aren’t purchasing they possibly need a nudge.

What is Nudge Theory in marketing?

Nudge Theory – courtesy of Thayler and Sunstein – is a very famous behavioural science concept that suggests subtle and indirect suggestions can influence decision-making and behaviour. Nudges are used to encourage consumers to make choices that align with a brand's goals, often without removing freedom of choice. They’re not direct instructions. Nudges aren’t about being bossy. The key to effective nudging is to subtly guide behaviour without making the consumer feel manipulated.

“A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people's behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.”

Nudges should:

Be subtle

Understand the consumer’s mindset or understanding

Simplify decision making, not complicate it.

A really straightforward example? Menu layouts.

The Balthazar menu is laid out so that your eyes immediately are drawn to the pricey seafood platter (1), strategically below it is (2), a cheaper yet still three-digit menu item, which makes everything else on the menu seem like a relative steal. Right next door, the smaller platter (3) seems like a bargain but still feels luxe and still feels fancy. ?(4) Want to draw the eye in? Put a box around it. And instead of listing the menu items descending by price (5), which can lead the diner to aim for the cheaper ones, they’re jumbled up (sans leader dots to the price) to disregard cost and focus on the menu item itself. Pressure, no? Just a nudge.

But wait, there's more! In the full issue.

3. Amplify

Amplifying the quiet: Why targeted influence beats noise

In an era where attention is currency, it’s tempting to think that the key to influence lies in casting the widest net possible. Macro-influencers and celebrities often dominate brand strategies, with their millions-strong followings and flashy metrics. But time and again, we’ve seen that going for the biggest audience doesn’t always guarantee success. Sometimes, it’s the targeted, quiet campaigns that deliver the most impact.

Amplification, it turns out, isn’t about shouting: most times, it’s about whispering to the right people.

Take Daniel Wellington, the OG Insta-gifters, the quintessential example of micro-influencer strategy done right. This watch brand avoided major celebrity endorsements and instead focused on Instagram micro-influencers. By gifting watches and encouraging posts with personalised discount codes, they created an organic buzz. Small but mighty communities engaged and the brand’s message spread with genuine enthusiasm. The results? Shit-hot growth, massive revenue and a template that many brands have since tried to replicate.

Or, take Le Labo’s original gifting program, which shows how quiet influence can have a long-lasting ripple effect. For years, they sent fragrances to small, non-famous accounts and people who weren’t your typical “influencers”. The effect was subtle yet powerful – rooms scattered with a mysterious, unforgettable scent, friends asking “What scent are you wearing?” The strategy built intrigue and desirability over time, proving that influence doesn’t always come from shouting but can come from lingering presence.

Then there’s Jolie Skin Co, a brand that turned gifting into a status symbol. By selectively gifting showerheads to the right people – no paid advertisements – they created a halo effect so strong that others began buying the product just to appear like they’d been gifted it themselves. This clever targeting amplified not with noise, but by turning the idea of being “worth gifting” into a form of social currency.

Picks & Recs

See the full issue for our Picks & Recs, where we flipped our title around to give you:

All bite no bark: things we love that are deserving of a wider audience.

If you are also interested Rock the Boat by the Hues Corporation or The Trouble With Angels, a long forgotten 1966 comedy. Then boy, are you in for a treat.

Good conversations are never a one-way street. This newsletter is no exception. Reply to let us know what you think, what you love, what we’ve missed – or – spark a smarter conversation for your own business by working with SKMG.

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All our past issues can be found here.