Nissan hires Robert Downey Jr. to do voice-overs and in one of his first spots, he has to say "sport-cross" when describing a new vehicle. Sport-Cross. This absurd hybrid descriptor not only tries much too hard to position the vehicle as something that doesn't actually exist, it clearly does this by attempting to create a term that "sounds like something." But it doesn't. As cool a guy as Downey is, it's just a poor and truly misguided attempt at branding.
(Lexus actually created the term "sportcross" in 2001 for a product that failed. Miserably. So full blame to them, as well.)
Even worse, perhaps, is a Buick Regal ad in which it calls itself a "sport-injected" sedan. Interesting. They've obviously developed a way to inject "sport" right into the engine itself, as they further use the term "sport-injected performance." I laughed at this incredibly feeble attempt to compare their Buick to European brands. (Want to know how to do it Buick? Watch the BMW 5 Series ad that uses 3rd-party reviews to describe the car. One states the car "defies the laws of physics." No announcer blathering on. No overstating. Just type on a screen with an appropriate attribution. Simple, believable, powerful.)
These are two examples of ridiculous brand-speak, which do nothing but convince audiences that they are being sold to. And sold to in a sleazy way, a way that clearly is not plain spoken or plainly honest. This is an example of why advertising is viewed with such deep disdain in so many quarters of our culture.
Another way of describing these branding blunders: negative media experiences. Can anyone honestly say to themselves, "Wow, a sport-injected car, finally!"? Well, no, they surely cannot. So that small moment becomes a negative moment because of the distrust it conveys.
We're pretty much done with being sold to. Hence the massive explosion in social media and its vastly different user experiences. And for users, the experience is almost universally positive, for a number of hugely important reasons.
First is that social media is, in effect, about conversations, not commercials. What's more pleasant? Engaging in a conversation of your choosing or being exposed to a commercial you would rather not see?
Commercial marketing interrupts you; social media engages and informs you. And don't underestimate how important this distinction is. Think about this: You're having a conversation with someone who interrupts you with unrelated tidbits over and over and over. It's fair to assume you would limit, if not eliminate, your interactions with this person in the future. Isn't it?
But marketers—traditionally based marketers—don't seem to get this. Digital marketing is maturing and becoming an essential component in virtually every serious marketing strategy. But now those old-school marketers are injecting their "interruptive" techniques into the digital arena to a degree that has become troubling to us digitally aware marketers.
Proof? Anyone logging onto The New York Times website within the last few weeks has been jolted by a drop-down banner ad that expands to roughly 75% of the screen as soon as the page loads. Is this why you went to NYT.com? To have an unwanted branding message prevent you from accessing the information you're after? So you are forced to deal with another negative marketing experience, this one in a medium in which your expectations had been set to be positive. Ugh.
The web is loaded with these interruptions now, unfortunately. Video and accompanying audio blast away at you when you land on myriad sites (e.g., ESPN, Huffington Post). You Tube and other videos do not start when you click a play button; advertisements start and in most cases runs their course, like it or not.
Many online users, we bet, are even taken aback by rich-media executions like Eyeblaster ads that frequently "interrupt" our online experience in more visually dynamic, interesting ways. (We at Positively Writing are less offended by these simply because we appreciate the creativity and technology involved.) But these are still interruptions no matter how you slice it. Negative moments. Again.
So the language of advertising and the techniques employed have steered us to interact online with friends, and yes, also with brands with whom we want to share. This is the power of social media. Communities and content created by the people, for the people. And largely controlled by the people, thank goodness. And even better: These same people are willing, often happy, to invite marketers into their world. If we marketers play by their rules.
So let's do that. Don't interrupt. Don't BS somebody. Listen to them. Speak with them as if they were a friend and—magic!—they may become a friend. An advocate. A true influencer. But if you don't give that person the space she/he deserves, you may be jettisoned. Permanently.
Learn the rules and be respectful. Create positive experiences for your existing and potential customers and they will assuredly create the same for you. And whatever you do, don't try to "sport-inject" them; they're BMW. And you might be Buick.
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