The Art of Being Clever

The Art of being Clever...
and my thoughts about tapping into your inner child to grab people's attention. 

As an advertising photographer I've learned many things. I've learned that the right lighting can make even the most beautiful person look awful. I've learned that cats can be extremely temperamental and will very rarely ever truly cooperate. I've learned to expect the unexpected because everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And, finally, I've learned that sometimes you have to step back and realize that the best form of advertising can be by making the reader/viewer smile... or by making their day just a little bit better. 

Don't get me wrong, shameless self promotion definitely has its place, as does spamming advertisements and viral marketing. But, personally, I don't always think it's the tried and true ways that are the best. Sometimes you have to think more outside of the box.

Let me give you an example... and you can take it or leave it.

 -the image to the left is from a blog called Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. I found this blog about two years ago when I first arrived at college. The blog has quite the following, and images like this have been turned into T-shirts or used as an internet meme. 

This style of drawing, which is reminiscent of paint attracts a person to the blog. The blog itself uses these images to support what she is saying and to help with the humor aspect of the blog. 

Now, using humor is an obvious tactic- it makes people laugh, it makes people feel good, and because they feel good, they tend to stay on the page and read more, or come back to it to feel that feeling again.

I'll give you another example...

The image on the right is from a blog called Cat Versus Human. It is another humor blog, but also another wildly successful one. While Hyperbole and a Half does stories and adds images to illustrate certain aspects, Cat Versus Human uses a comic-book like format to tell the story. It's clever, humorous, and people enjoy reading it because it makes them feel good. Both of these blogs have products and market them to their readers, but it's not obnoxious. It's thrown in casually, or sometimes it's not even mentioned. 

Stemming off of that thought brings me to my next. Maybe these blogs are so successful because they don't market themselves to fit some kind of niche. They communicate their messages in a clever way. Both blogs choose to illustrate their concepts in a way that's easily understandable and that most can enjoy without much effort. And... you know... maybe that's best!

Now for my last example... I promise this post will be over soon.

Look! I made this! It's beautiful right? I thought so too...

Not really. This advertisement is mine, I'm not lying about that, but its by far not the best advertisement I've ever seen. My point that I'm trying to make though is that you probably stopped to look at it and read it. Why? Because it looks like it was drawn by an elementary school student, and you probably questioned what was happening.

This advertisement turned out to be quite effective. People looked at it with confusion, but it sparked an interest in what the event was and it got more people to attend the event that we expected. 

So finally... my point. Yay!

Being traditional and following what has worked in the past when it comes to marketing is admirable, but maybe its more effective to push boundaries. 

Making a connection with your consumer in a way that is understandable and makes them feel like they can relate may in fact be better. Why? Well look at the examples I showed. Both are humor blogs, yes, and neither of them are companies, which is true, but they are popular. People purchase the T-shirts and the books because they like the blog. And, if you look carefully, they do advertise on their blogs. But, first, they make that emotional connection with the reader and draw them in.

Do I think companies could follow in that example?...well maybe. Maybe it would be hard for a company blog to appeal to a consumer. Maybe they can't draw like a child to advertise. Maybe it would be an awful idea and I'm completely wrong.

But also, maybe I'm not. Maybe being clever and innovative is what is required to have a higher following/ consumer base. A company is nothing without its consumers, so why not appeal to them and step down to their level? Make them like you. Be clever. The worse that can happen is you learn what not to do. I mean, you only live once, right? 

#YOLO