Cheat, Steal and Lie’ is an ear-catching way of saying ‘Exaggerate, Borrow and Invent’. It sounds better and makes core creative branding principles easy to remember. I have trained a lot of creatives over the years and this is my first lesson.
Cheat (Exaggerate): You have to play the cards you’re dealt, so give a little spin to the facts. Avis did a wonderful job, turning being a runner up into an advantage.
Lucky Strike made the claim ‘It’s Toasted’ and totally boosted sales. The fact is all cigarettes were toasted but Luckies struck it big by saying it first. The value of toasting is that it was meant to ‘remove harmful corrosive acids (pungent irritants)’ and to ‘sterilize’ tobacco.
I had a hairdresser friend who couldn’t afford electric clippers. So he built a name for himself giving slick straight razor cuts. Turn the negative into a positive. Old means experienced. Inexperience is untapped potential. The decrepit property has great possibility. Even ugliness can be a selling proposition as Volkswagen proved with the Beetle.
Steal (Borrow): In advertising and branding, there is limited time to build up a story. So borrow from popular culture. Indiana Jones is adventure. James Bond is sophistication. Sherlock Holmes is intelligence. Using established characters and icons does a lot of the work for you.
Music is a great way to quickly get into the heads of your target market. When working for Wet Ones wipes in the UK, I was briefed to create a radio commercial publicizing their free samples. The first idea was to change the lyrics in Aretha Franklin’s “Think” so instead of blasting out “freedom” it was “free Ones”. Sting’s “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” suffered a similar fate. The soulful “Free, free, set them free” became “Free, free, get Ones free”.
People love familiarity. Get their attention with something they know and like and then surprise them with the introduction of your product.
Lie (Invent): This mainly applies to fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). You have to make generally generic brands stand out from the clutter. What’s the difference between Coke and Pepsi? Well, the former enables you to taste the feeling and the latter makes you part of something far bigger than just yourself: Pepsi Generations.
Carlsberg is an okay beer but it stole the high ground by using the line ‘Probably the best lager in the world’. They couldn’t be challenged as the word probably meant it was a matter of opinion. Another beer had the strapline ‘Harp. Get sharp’. The premise was that drinking their product made you streetwise and smart, a real problem solver. I couldn’t even untie my shoes after indulging in their product. Sunsilk and Pantene promise to solve much of your beauty problems with their little bottles of hope.
I won’t be snide or scathing about the above brands as I would like to work for them again. But it is fair to say they have built magnificent desirable dreams out of almost nothing supported by massive marketing budgets. If you’re going to lie, tell big ones. It worked for Stalin and Trump.
Above all, keep it interesting. What you’re selling may be poo but make it shiny enough and somebody will want it.
To learn from minds greater than mine go here.
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