The Zen of Zag: The Art (and Struggle) of Avoiding the Obvious

In my advertising career, I've worked on branding for about a dozen banks. All banks, more or less, offer an identical menu of products and resources. Creatively, this puts you in a pickle. There's not much to grab. Ultimately, creatives will reach for the obvious solution and punt to promoting the rank-and-file: our people make the difference.

People make the difference for many industries: trucking, hotels, hospitals and Olive Gardens. They're all staffed by the world's finest people. If you don't believe me, read the body copy.

When I was asked to help out with a project for Small Bites Pediatric Dentistry, I immediately felt gnawed by that same sad zig – the compulsion to present the obvious solution. For dentistry, the zig is the final outcome: "a beautiful smile." Check in with your favorite dentist's marketing. Chances are, they want to give YOU something to smile about.

But the branding director for Small Bites, Kendall Jones, wasn't interested in zigging with her competition. Small Bites was new to the area, and the service line was niche – exclusively pediatric dentistry with only certified pediatric dentists seeing patients. Smiling was too low a bar. She needed a zag.

Looking to appeal to mothers, Kendall negotiated space on local Kroger shopping carts. We opted to use that real-time moment and environment to position Small Bites (and its photogenic head pediatric dentist, Keith) as an omnipresent force for pediatric tooth health.

Kendall and I challenged ourselves to deliver a message that didn't zig with smiling, a far too familiar dentistry trope that simply would not have separated Small Bites from its more established competition. Instead, we opted to go with Small Bites' culture – humor and approachability.

As it turns out, people really do make the difference.

Jeremy Harper is Chief Instigator for Storm The Castle Creative who has no problem with smiling. Kendall Jones is Director of Brand Development for Small Bites and was art director for the advertisements profiled in this incredible LinkedIN article.