You’ve probably been told that you should always keep your marketing positive.
Stuff like…
Don’t use negative words in your communications.
Avoid controversy at all costs.
And don’t do anything that paints your brand in a negative light.
Because people want to be happy.
And they don’t respond to negative messages.
Have you heard this kind of advice before?
Maybe you even believe it.
But you shouldn’t.
At least, you shouldn’t believe that negative messages never work.
Because they do work.
And not just in politics.
They can be the most memorable messages your customers will ever see.
Because they break through the clutter of positive corporate speak.
They interrupt the pattern we’re used to.
Like when Volkswagen launched the Beetle in the US.
American carmakers were making large, luxurious automobiles.
And the ads mostly focused on the beautiful styling and luxurious designs.
Americans were in love with big cars with long bench seats, tail fins, and spacious trunks.
That was the pattern.
But the Beetle didn’t have any of those.
The gas tank was smaller.
The trunk was smaller (and in the front of the car).
And the car was stubby and, quite frankly, ugly.
Volkswagen couldn’t credibly talk about how they were better than American cars—because they weren’t better in ways that Americans cared about (yet).
So they embraced the negative.
They ran headlines like: “Lemon”, “Ugly is only skin deep”, and “Ugly, but it gets you there”.
My favorite ad from the series is this one:
Want to see more VW ads like this? Click here.
By embracing what was wrong with the car, in a humorous way, Volkswagen made their ugly car likeable.
But that was 50 years ago. Consumers are far more sophisticated today. A brand can’t do that these days, can they?
Yes they can.
If you live in the US, you probably haven’t seen the brilliant ads for Buckley’s Cough Syrup.
Like all cough syrups, Buckley’s tastes awful.
Truly nasty.
Bad enough that many people would rather be sick than take a second dose.
But rather than ignoring this fatal flaw, Buckley’s celebrates it.
The company even ran taste test ads in which they compared Buckley’s to other nasty tasting (we assume) liquids like sweat and a restroom puddle.
Seriously.
If it tastes this bad, it must work, right?
This is my favorite example of using negativity in an ad…
Talk about embracing controversy and saying negative things about your product.
Buckley’s proves you can do it.
Of course, this doesn’t mean your advertising should say something negative about your customers.
Making your customers think less of themselves is still a bad idea.
Your product is fair game, but your customers aren’t.
But, in the right circumstances, you can safely ignore the experts who say you should never be negative.
I’m positive it can work for you.
Does your product have a flaw that you try to ignore but customers are sure to discover? Can you take something negative and deal with it humorously or in a way that endears customers to your brand? Are you so afraid of offending customers with a negative word or two that your message ends up getting lost?
Something to think about.
One more thing: I really dig the ads that Bill Bernbach did for Volkswagon. And so do a lot of other writers and ad people. It’s been called the best ad campaign of the 20th century. And if you want to see more of them, click here.
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