Electronic Retailer - May 2012 - 50

RICK PETRY

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50

Emotional Truth in Advertising
story is really about is a dream deferred – something virtually anyone can relate to. His story is no different than the sort featured on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, a show so popular it is now in season 13. Yet, establishing authenticity takes time. In the case of Gary’s story, a couple of minutes of the 28:30 will be devoted to his particular tale; proof that it doesn’t take several weeks of episodic TV to get to the heart of what is driving someone and have it inspire others. At the same time, it cannot be established with any profoundness in a matter of seconds either, because genuine psychological dimension simply cannot be established in such a short span. Gary’s story concludes with him receiving a standing ovation on stage, a bit awed by his own accomplishment, the perfect and wholly relatable dramatic arc. In a sense then, the creative process becomes a kind of reverse engineering process driven by the stories of such individual testimonials and their ability to engage an audience. Contrast this with the approach where a product is thrown into the hands of trial participants a couple of weeks before the cameras roll and you have the difference between heartfelt brand evangelists and half-hearted unconvincing testimonials, or worse, wannabe actors willing to do anything for a few seconds of their proverbial 15 minutes of fame. But the approach being advocated here takes tremendous patience, time and money to pull off – three things that are often in short supply amid a world of frequently under-funded projects. And yet, the dividends that true emotional engagement can pay are huge – just look at the empire that GuthyRenker has created with Proactiv, an enduring category leader that has succeeded for years by creating genuine empathy through testimonials. With all of the media proliferation that exists, it is incumbent that the industry creates entertaining television that can compete on its own merits with everything else being broadcast, texted, tweeted and streamed. All of which suggests that marketers best focus on these watchwords: Get real. Rick Petry is a freelance writer who specializes in direct marketing and is a past chairman of ERA. He can be reached at (503) 740-9065, online at rickpetry.com or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thepetrydish.

Since 1999, the modern era of reality television ushered in by Survivor and Big Brother has dominated the TV landscape with the likes of narcissistic siblings, wish fulfillment real estate transactions, truckers, loggers and fantasy cake bakers. While the trend is owed in part to the fact that it is far cheaper programming to produce than primetime dramas and sitcoms, the lessons of reality television are clear: People enjoy watching ordinary (and occasionally extraordinary) people conduct their lives in virtually any guise, and a dramatic arc can be created out of most anything, from toddlers throwing tantrums to remodeled bathrooms. What lies at the heart of reality television’s appeal is the idea that some kind of authenticity or emotional truth will be captured by the camera’s ever-seeing eye. And while the merits of its voyeuristic appeal can be argued, there is no debating the fact that in a world where technology has put face-to-face intimacy under siege, one of technology’s manifestations – television – is filling the emotional vacuum with its ability to make human connections. It is a lesson that direct marketers should heed, given that testimonials and their stories are such a vital mainstay of direct marketing, acting as their own form of reality television. Having stated that, an important distinction between traditional reality television and infomercials is the amount of time devoted to each story. Many direct marketers seem determined to try and squeeze as many different testimonials into an infomercial or spot. The problem is that many of these quick sound bites in the form of, “Tastes great!” and “I love it!” wind up sounding superficial and hollow. It’s as if the marketer fears that if they don’t have a broad swath of demographics representing different ages, genders and ethnicity that somehow viewers will lack the imagination to identify with what is being said. Therefore this is an argument for quality over quantity, meaning marketers should take the time to give their testimonials context, to give them a chance to breathe and for their stories to unfold. For example, recently this author directed a testimonial with a man named Gary for a weight loss program. Gary is an opera singer who was unable to get the plum roles because of his weight. Through the program being marketed he was able to drop several pounds, gain confidence, and perform his dream role as Rodolfo, the lead tenor in Puccini’s La Boheme. What Gary’s

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Electronic Retailer - May 2012

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