What is the key for your marketing persuasion?1 We feel emotion is the most critical element for persuasion. That is a hands down fact in our minds. Is it a secret? We hope not, or we have had it wrong for all these years. But it seems like a hidden truth for many businesses. Or camouflaged. Certainly Leo Burnett understands what is needed, though. Certainly something we should learn how to apply well. The Lego marketing campaigns surely have.
It is a simple concept. People don’t read ads, they read what interests them.1 So if you are going to generate marketing campaign designs, you are going to have to create interesting copy. And, oh by the way, it must be more interesting than the millions of other advertisements out there. Now that is a daunting task, isn’t it?
According to Nielsen, there are 27,000,000 pieces of content are shared each day. And Statistic Brain says that our average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds – one second less than a goldfish!
We check our phones 150 times per day. We check our email up to 30 times an hour. And the amount of information in the world continues to double every 18 months.
All this available information and data is creating a battle for customer attention between brands, publishers, and every one of us who creates content. But more importantly, its forcing businesses to think and act like publishers and creative designers.
I have to admit. I am a big fan of the Lego company. We have done several analyses of their marketing and innovation activities.
Related: 12 Best Examples of Successful Advertisement Elements
So it is time to evaluate Lego marketing campaigns. A great competition going on within the creative toy industry. Lots of great products? Yep, no doubt. And some even better marketing and advertising campaigns.
Have you seen the recent Lego TV ad promoting the Lego movie in the UK?
If not, you should invest 3 minute now and check it out. It will prove benefitial in reviewing our ad analysis.
Let’s examine this commercial and what contributes to its strengths and weaknesses as a component of an effective marketing campaign. And its ability to influence or persuade.
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. At the end of this article, please comment on whether this advertisement achieves this goal. Let this community know what you think.
Do we believe this is such an effective advertising campaign and if so, why?
Strong value propositions
If you have a product that truly discriminates you from your competition, build your messages on these. Give your customers reasons to select you. This movie ad grabs you with 4-5 short excerpts. Each excerpt having an element of music and great use of visuals. No between your eyes value proposition, but just great examples from the movie. Good strategy.
Customers and particularly the target customers are looking for entertainment using new technology, Lego products, and the application of imagination and emotion. No reason to view the movie without these and the marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion. The most important value points.
Be relevant to your target market
Keep in mind that one message does not fit all. It starts with knowing your target market. Here the target markets are families and young people and they are featured prominently in all of the movie components. Most of the movie components, and there are many good ones, are written for sharing with young audiences and their family members.
Grabbing attention
Interesting information, well presented, showing emotion, always holds attention, yes? Keep in mind that people don’t watch ads … they watch what interests them. Your ad messages must be interesting to your target communities. This message certainly grabs and holds attention based on emotion, superb visuals, cool Lego products, and a great sound track. Letting the visuals totally carry the messages.
Simple messages
Superb visuals and visuals so simple that you quickly grasp them and don’t lose interest. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words. And the music has a way to keep you tied in. Creating customer interest does get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet entertaining design, don’t you think?
Make your ad a component
Always make your ad part of an integrated marketing campaign. There are a series of similar ads in this campaign … all geared to address the Lego movie in a similar vein to target customers. All follow the same theme … simply shine light on the value of the products and the use of great imagination. Great visuals. Entertaining music. Little talking. Definitely no selling. Taking a page from the past Lego marketing strategy.
Influence and persuasion
There is no better means of influence or persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion. The higher degree of emotion creates the more differentiation and makes it easier for your brand to project uniqueness and its word of mouth messages. Emotion is the secret language of the brain … Lego knows that working on emotion will improve their persuasion or influence.
This commercial focuses on emotional appeal in grand fashion, in all components of the movie excerpts. It is the secret of this commercial’s success.
Lego marketing campaigns aren’t complete without its core message, the religion of “play,” which binds this multifaceted movie together. “Play is an absolutely essential need, not only for children but also for grown-ups,” Mads Nipper, the chief marketing officer of Lego, says. Sounding more like new-age gurus than businesspeople, Nipper and other Lego executives repeat the word “play” over and over, reverently, taking a basic source of human happiness and placing it at the center of their brand.
Remember, it is not what marketing campaigns do with the consumer; it is what the consumer does after viewing the marketing.
We believe the Lego marketing strategy is a winner. Simple, yet interesting. Not selling, but focus on play. What do you think?
Does this commercial persuade you?
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Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing and advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Guinness Marketing Campaign Shows Their Creativity
Secrets to Share on Lego’s Marketing Campaigns
12 Lessons from Ben and Jerry’s Marketing Strategies