In a world full of polished messages, the thing that feels least manufactured may be the thing that gets noticed.
One of the odd things about good advertising is that it can sometimes be too good. The effort that’s clearly gone into the production immediately says: this is an advert. And once readers know that, they behave accordingly. That can include switching off.
This is uncomfortable territory for many B2B marketers, because we have spent years being told that professional presentation builds trust. The logo, layout and photography should say “credible supplier”. And most of that is still true. But less formal advertising is proving to be increasingly effective. So where can this approach actually be used?
In social media, the answer is relatively straightforward. The surrounding content is informal, so an ad that feels native to that environment has a chance. A short video from a technical specialist can feel more natural than a polished brand film. However, few of us will be leading our advertising initiatives with social media.
Display advertising is more difficult. Yet it’s always been the case that a display ad with a very simple message can outperform one that says “leading solutions for your industry”, and a simple product image may work better than a difficult-to-discern montage.
The challenge is not to make display advertising look casual. It is to make it feel less processed. That might mean choosing one recognisable problem and making the whole ad about that, instead of trying to present the entire company in one rectangle. A good ad should still look professional. But it should not look as if every sharp edge has been sanded off.