The Code to Clean Communication

Communication – specifically advertising – has long played the role of positioning unnecessary/ mediocre/ vanity things as thunderous secrets to a perfect life. Most of the products that are sold out there are not unique, they are not changing the world, heck, they are not even of a basic minimum quality to deserve the award-winning ads written about them. And I’m not even getting into the ethics or the role of the companies making those products in the world today with the priorities we are pressed with.?

99.99% of the world, of advertising, of consumption fall into this category. Of mindless consumption selling people things they don’t need, using the talent of good writers, graphic artists, brand strategists, marketing people.

As people who work in the business of marketing communication, we have developed a talent for making any shit look like gold.

The mundanest things are written as That Big Thing you have been waiting for all your life. (Just another mobile phone.)

Life will never be sex-less again. (Just another deo.)

There is nothing more profound than this. (Just another car.)

Be the boss inside. (Just another underwear brand.)

This will bring you instant happiness. (Just another messenger app.)

She used our product and became the President. (Just another whitening cream.)

Live your dream. (Just another matrimonial site.)?

Enter the useful / honest / meaningful / relevant brands. Businesses that actually add value to people’s lives. Things that people need to live well. Products that are revolutionizing the world. Challenging the status quo.

The same communication style doesn’t work.?

• Everyone knows social media is not the place to advertise or sell, but a place to start conversations.
• We know content and blog posts is not just to showcase your product but to help people.
• Newsletters and emails are almost a separate industry altogether.

But it seems, it’s hard for traditional marketers to let go of the staid old practices of advertising. The stuff we know works. So we continue weaving the product into plots, we try to “subconsciously” influence instead of being in the face, and writing call-to-actions and explaining those actions to death.

Here are some pointers to do things differently to create communication that starts conversations, builds relationships and people want to read/engage with.

State facts and possibilities. Don’t sell.

Nobody wants to hang out with a friend who is always steering the conversation from the middle of everything to what they want to talk about, which is always and only their business.

Refrain from the following:

• Manipulating, building FOMO etc. through communication
• Over exaggeration of the benefits
• Overuse of adjectives and superlatives

We are looking for super capable experts < We are looking for experts < We are looking for people who are good at it.?

Make mistakes but there’s no need to be superfluous.

Design and writing can take creative leaps but they should also be logical, necessary and complementing. What I mean is, any word or design element that does not serve a purpose can be avoided. Logic is not subjective. It’s objective. The purpose of maintaining objectivity and logic is to convey the brand ethos in communication. In today’s world, bad grammar and typos are perhaps ok but making illogical statements, flow of sentences etc. are not ok.

No need to put words into people’s mouth, speak for them, force excitement on them etc.

The purpose of communication is:

• To say what, why, how (in different order as per context)
• To make people informed, understand, realize, imagine, dream, be inspired
• To show the brand’s values or what makes it different
• Not to make the audience panic or afraid
• Not make them feel bad, guilty or disappointed
• Not to take liberties with how people should be feeling about your brand, what they should do with your help, or why they should
• Not even to make them feel good
• Simply to be there at the right place at the right time playing the right chord

Could we do it 100% of the time?

Could anyone do it 100% of the time?

Is 100% even required or the right goal??

More notes:

Good > Better > Best

Register > Register Now

Start coding now > Solve challenge

Try truth instead of clickbait unless it’s the coolest clickbait of the century, and you'll earn the respect and trust of your audience.

Truth > Hype

Hang out with your audience. Be your audience.

Hang out in spaces like reddit where your audience has honest conversations about everything. Find out things they care about, how they think, what they hate, how they talk. Genuinely like and admire them rather than try to crack the idea they’ll take viral. Marketers need to think like their audience, get their kind of smarts, and yet never think of outsmarting them.

Know their struggles, motivations, dreams.

And talk to them like a real person helping them in their life, career or whatever.

Don’t talk like the government: We hereby ask you to update your profile or proceed no further.

Don’t talk like a school letter writing assignment: We hope you are staying safe and in the best of spirits for the upcoming job season.

Solving something with the audience > Speaking for them / to them: Problem needs solving. We are trying. Making progress. Help us and together let’s make more progress.

Present and let people think, don’t explain and end with a CTA: These are the facts; make what you want of it > this is 100% the thing you must do and we guarantee you that your life will be better when you have the dream job.

Be mindful of external factors and topical events.

World events, pandemic, public sentiment. When people are dying of demonetization, don’t be a fashion brand that says “no money, no problem, just shop online!”

You can’t cut through the clutter by creating more clutter, noise, FOMO and call to actions. You can only do it by being yourself, being authentic, and keeping communication super simple and clean.