Every time a rich idea is oversimplified we have done it a disservice. That is especially true in marketing. Soundbites and tag lines have their place but consumers are craving more information to make informed decisions. We hope you enjoy this paper from Swystun Communications.

1. Promoting Nonsense:
The Dumbing Down of Marketing
The
most
important
thing
about
a
point
of
view
is
to
have
one.

2. Simply
Wrong
Recently
I
joined
an
interes>ng
group
for
lunch.
Two
of
the
folks
were
the
founders
of
a
start-­‐up
and
the
other
two
represented
an
adver>sing
agency.
I
was
present
to
act
as
a
bridge
having
been
charged
with
ar>cula>ng
the
new
en>ty’s
brand.
For
the
next
ninety
minutes
I
was
highly
amused
as
a
verbal
tennis
match
took
place
between
my
four
lunch
mates.
At
the
end,
I
was
more
confused
by
the
purpose
of
the
new
venture
than
when
I
first
sat
down
and
said
as
much.
One
of
the
adver>sing
professionals
suggested
the
founders
provide
clarity
by
trea>ng
us
to
a
“30
second
elevator
pitch”.
What
followed
was
an
ini>ally
impressive
string
of
words
that
when
absorbed
amounted
to
a
dense,
jargon-­‐
laden
paragraph
of
nonsense.
I
am
not
sure
who
chuckled
first
but
it
prompted
everyone
to
join
in.
We
all
recognized
the
absurdity
of
the
exercise.
It
made
me
think
about
the
‘elevator
pitch’
concept
and
the
broader,
more
troubling
trend
of
simplifying
almost
everything
these
days.
In
business
this
seems
to
have
started
in
adver>sing
with
radio
and
television
adver>sement
lengths.
The
thought
being,
if
you
could
not
get
your
message
across
quickly
there
was
something
dreadfully
wrong
with
what
you
were
selling
and
you
would
never
engage
the
consumer.
All
of
this
began
with
Rosser
Reeves.
The
chairman
of
the
Ted
Bates
Agency
invented
the
Unique
Selling
Proposi>on
at
the
>me
television
first
became
a
force
in
society.
This
proposi>on
most
oRen
took
the
form
of
a
tagline
that
fit
short
adver>sing
lengths.
Reeves
created
campaigns
for
Bic
pens,
Minute
Maid
orange
juice
and
Colgate
toothpaste.
His
line
for
M&M’s,
“"melts
in
your
mouth,
not
in
your
hand."
is
an
undeniable
success
and
classic.
Now
brief,
staccato-­‐like
messaging
is
the
norm
in
communica>ons.
The
volume
of
communica>ons
people
are
subjected
to
and
the
range
of
technologies
that
carry
them
are
par>ally
to
blame.
People’s
aYen>on
spans
have
drama>cally
shortened
as
a
result.
A
recent
Pew
Internet
study
in
the
United
States
suggests
that
the
current
genera>on
of
Internet
consumers
live
in
a
world
of
"instant
gra>fica>on
and
quick
fixes"
which
leads
to
a
"loss
of
pa>ence
and
a
lack
of
deep
thinking”.
2

3. Our
growing
inaYen>veness
is
nothing
new.
In
1977
Nobel-­‐winning
economist
Herbert
Simon
wrote
about
the
coming
informa>on-­‐rich
world
and
warned
that
what
informa>on
consumes
is
“the
aYen>on
of
its
recipients.
Hence
a
wealth
of
informa>on
creates
a
poverty
of
aYen>on.”
The
U.S.
Na>onal
Library
of
Medicine
reported
that
the
average
aYen>on
span
in
2000
was
12-­‐seconds
and
in
2013
that
had
been
reduced
to
just
8-­‐seconds.
We
are
training
ourselves
to
think
and
absorb
only
short
thoughts.
Publica>ons
are
now
laden
with
how-­‐to’s
and
top
ten
lists,
news
is
an
assortment
of
soundbites
and
online
videos
are
missed
if
one
blinks.
AdmiYedly,
they
may
compel
us
to
seek
further
informa>on
but
more
oRen
they
are
unsa>sfying
and
we
driR
or
surf
over
to
another
flee>ng
topic
soon
forgeang
what
we
set
out
to
accomplish
in
the
first
place.
William
A.
Henry
III,
cultural
cri>c
and
author,
bemoaned
this
deepening
state
in
his
book,
In
Defense
of
Eli>sm,
“even
cri>cal
books
about
ideas
are
expected
to
be
prescrip>ve,
to
conclude
with
simple,
step-­‐by-­‐step
solu>ons
to
whatever
crisis
they
discuss.
Reading
itself
is
becoming
a
way
out
of
thinking.”
This
why
I
believe
no>ons
like
K.I.S.S.
or
“keep
it
simple
stupid”
are
themselves
unwise
when
applied
universally.
Henry
said,
“In
the
modern
world,
the
cruelest
thing
that
you
can
do
to
people
is
to
make
them
ashamed
of
their
complexity.”
More
and
more
I
work
with
clients
to
tell
their
complex
stories
richly.
I
am
not
sugges>ng
it
works
for
all
and
for
everything
but
I
am
discovering
that
many
audiences
of
brands
are
craving
deeper
content
to
make
beYer
decisions
and
create
stronger
connec>ons.
Yet,
most
marketers
and
marke>ng
are
going
in
the
opposite
direc>on.
3
This
why
I
believe
no>ons
like
K.I.S.S.
or
“keep
it
simple
stupid”
are
themselves
unwise
when
applied
universally.
Henry
said,
“In
the
modern
world,
the
cruelest
thing
that
you
can
do
to
people
is
to
make
them
ashamed
of
their
complexity.”
More
and
more
I
work
with
clients
to
tell
their
complex
stories
richly.
I
am
not
sugges>ng
it
works
for
all
and
for
everything
but
I
am
discovering
that
many
audiences
of
brands
are
craving
deeper
content
to
make
beYer
decisions
and
create
stronger
connec>ons.
Yet,
most
marketers
and
marke>ng
are
going
in
the
opposite
direc>on.

4. Make
It
Short
In
the
face
of
shorter
aYen>on
spans
marketers
logically,
somewhat
ironically,
and
hopefully
not
irreversibly,
communicate
ever
shorter
and
ever
simpler
messages.
The
once
sacrosanct
30-­‐second
commercial
spot
is
losing
ground
to
15-­‐second
commercials.
Nielsen
Neuro,
the
researcher’s
consumer
neuroscience
data
arm,
suggests
that
15-­‐second
commercials
are
just
as
effec>ve
or
even
more
effec>ve
than
longer
formats.
“Shorter
ads
can
be
highly
emo>onally
engaging
and
very
effec>ve
at
ac>va>ng
our
memory
networks,”
said
Senior
Vice
President
at
Nielsen
Neuro
Blake
Burrus.
”And,
they
oRen
require
less
aYen>on
to
process
them.”
Adver>sers
have
noted
this
as
the
percentage
of
15-­‐
second
commercials
grew
to
41%
in
2013
while
all
others
decreased.
For
years
I
subscribed
to
the
shorter-­‐is-­‐beYer
approach
in
my
work
in
branding,
marke>ng
and
adver>sing.
I
jus>fied
the
outputs
as
beau>fully
succinct,
crea>ve
expressions
of
complex
proposi>ons.
What
I
have
come
to
realize
is
we
should
actually
be
sharing
and
celebra>ng
complexity.
Why?
Because
so
much
of
the
effort
to
simplify
the
complex
only
serves
to
dumb
down
the
beauty
of
the
original
idea
or
the
value
proposi>on
of
a
product
or
service.
Alfred
North
Whitehead,
the
mathema>cian
and
philosopher,
suggested
the
pursuit
of
simplicity
was
noble
but
it
should
be
distrusted.
He
feared
that
we
would
err
by
dismissing
or
glossing
over
the
intricate
and
not
easily
explained.
One
of
his
lesser
known
observa>ons
is
that
people
“think
in
generali>es,
but
we
live
in
detail.”
It
is
actually
the
detail
that
provides
insight
and
illumina>on
in
marke>ng
and
goes
a
long
way
to
engage
consumers,
ini>ate
a
dialogue
and
provide
value
in
a
purchase
decision.
This
is
an
opportunity
to
differen>ate.
Instead
of
living
in
the
mindset
of
the
30-­‐second
elevator
pitch
or
the
15-­‐
second
commercial
brands
need
to
engage
with
their
audiences
using
thorough
and
compelling
stories.
Google’s
publica>on,
Think
Insights,
is
a
fer>le
outpouring
of
world
changing
ideas
that
respects
the
reader’s
intelligence.
HSBC
has
never
feared
the
use
of
long-­‐form
communica>ons.
The
financial
ins>tu>on’s
latest
campaign
states,
“In
the
future,
there
will
be
no
markets
leR
wai>ng
to
emerge”,
does
not
shy
away
from
topics
most
work
hard
to
avoid.
They
compel
prospec>ve
clients
with
fact
and
insights,
“By
2050,
19
of
the
30
largest
economies
will
be
in
countries
we
now
call
‘emerging’.
HSBC’s
interna>onal
network
can
help
you
discover
new
markets
wherever
they
emerge
next.
There’s
a
new
world
out
there.”
4

5. Unfortunately,
mindless
simplifica>on
con>nues
to
be
the
rule.
The
‘elevator
pitch’
is
employed
widely
with
pundits
sugges>ng
it
can
land
you
a
job,
gain
customers,
aYract
talent
to
your
business,
spark
media
aYen>on,
and
create
buzz
for
whatever
you
are
doing.
I
found
a
scholarly
ar>cle
that
suggested
these
mini-­‐pitches
must
last
only
30-­‐seconds,
contain
no
more
than
80-­‐90
words
and
run
8-­‐10
lines.
One
incongruous
instruc>onal
video
on
YouTube
takes
twenty
minutes
to
describe
the
half-­‐minute
process
with
the
obvious
irony
lost
on
the
presenter.
Disappoin>ngly,
Harvard
Business
Review
posted
a
blog
in
February,
2014
>tled,
The
Art
of
CraRing
a
15-­‐Word
Strategy
Statement.
Thirty
seconds
is
great
if
you
want
to
run
200
meters
or
wish
to
watch
five
Vine
videos.
Please
insert
your
own
joke
here
about
thirty
seconds
and
lovemaking.
The
real
point
is
that
complex
ideas
should
not
be
boiled
down
to
irrelevance.
We
need
to
end
our
aYachment
to
slogans
and
buzzwords
that
address
complexity
without
unraveling
it.
Our
world
is
undeniably
complex
and
we
do
it
a
disservice
by
sugges>ng
anything
different.
Albert
Einstein
captured
this
universal
tension
by
saying,
“Everything
should
be
made
as
simple
as
possible,
but
not
simpler.”
Make
It
Fast
A
few
years
back
when
The
Wall
Street
Journal
redesigned
using
color
and
added
new
sec>ons
including
the
Weekend
Journal
and
Personal
Journal,
a
colleague
shared
her
fear
that
it
was
going
the
way
of
USA
Today.
Personally,
I
thought
the
design
aYrac>ve
and
layout
invi>ng.
My
concern
was
with
the
content
and
the
length
of
the
wriYen
work.
That
concern
has
only
grown
since.
In
the
past
fiReen
years,
news
and
informa>on
has
been
beaten,
shrunk,
diced,
and
sliced
into
bite-­‐sized
easily
diges>ble
trifle.
The
masses
accept
headlines
and
top
ten
lists
like
they
are
gospel
without
a
proper
assessment
of
facts,
logic,
and
argument.
Nor
do
they
scru>nize
the
source.
Once
author
credibility
was
inviolable
but
sadly
it
is
no
longer.
Even
more
sadly
is
how
quickly
and
widely
this
dross
is
shared
through
social
media.
My
own
fear
is
that
The
Economist
will
dumb
down
its
content.
Every
>me
I
read
that
publica>on
I
am
reminded
that
learning
and
discovery
are
meant
to
be
arduous.
The
journey
is
the
des>na>on.
If
you
are
handed
the
answers
what
have
you
possibly
learned?
I
love
reading
the
magazine
because
it
lays
out
both
sides
of
an
issue
in
detail
and,
though
it
is
not
en>rely
objec>ve,
it
allows
the
reader
to
come
to
their
own
conclusion.
Clever
adver>sing
has
long
supported
The
Economist
claim
that
by
reading
it
you
will
become
sharper
and
smarter.
Poster
campaigns
through
the
years
have
had
fun
with
that
no>on,
“In
opinion
polls,
100%
of
Economist
readers
had
one.”,
“Not
all
mind
expanding
substances
are
illegal.”,
and
“Don’t
make
the
same
mistake
once.
5

6. 6
At
the
2014
Canadian
Marke>ng
Associa>on
Na>onal
Conven>on
I
presented
a
keynote
on
the
sorry
state
of
cri>cal
thinking.
I
noted
that
something
unfortunate
happened
in
the
last
ten
to
fiReen
years.
In
business
and
in
marke>ng,
faster
and
simpler
became
associated
with
beYer.
That
is
some
of
the
most
flawed
thinking
of
our
recent
>mes.
George
Bernard
Shaw
said
it
best,
“For
every
complex
problem
there
is
a
simple
solu>on
that
is
wrong.”
We
face
more
risks
and
trade-­‐offs
in
making
decisions
in
an
ever-­‐accelera>ng
world.
ORen
we
are
forced
to
move
fast
regardless
of
a
desire
to
be
more
deliberate
and
measured.
That
has
made
it
easy
to
use
speed
as
an
excuse
for
avoiding
the
cri>cal
thinking
that
produces
highly
differen>ated
and
clever
business
and
marke>ng
strategies.
Behind
every
concept,
every
idea
and
every
challenge
there
is
complexity.
We
lose
the
magic
every
>me
we
aYempt
to
over
simplify.
A
Medium
Message
The
immediacy
of
available
mediums
now
influence
the
quality
of
marke>ng.
It
is
almost
eerie
how
much
of
this
was
forecast
by
Marshall
McLuhan
whose
famous
line,
“The
medium
is
the
message”,
is
more
relevant
than
ever.
The
mad
communica>ons
thinker
seemingly
addressed
the
issue
of
social
media
before
it
even
existed
when
he
said,
“We
shape
our
tools
and
aRerwards
our
tools
shape
us.”
Today
the
format
of
social
media
is
itself
an
expression
regardless
of
the
content
it
conveys.
Marketers
are
not
only
dumbing
down
messages
they
subs>tute
technology
for
real
connec>on.
Marketers
now
have
an
incredible
array
of
communica>on
tools
at
their
disposal.
The
op>ons
are
analogous
to
a
golf
bag
full
of
clubs.
Unfortunately,
oRen
all
of
the
clubs
are
used
for
the
same
shot.
These
op>ons
may
confuse
the
intent
and
richness
of
the
original
message.
I
change
the
tone,
language
and
cadence
of
a
piece
of
wri>ng
to
fit
the
differences
in
format
and
audiences
of
TwiYer,
Facebook,
LinkedIn,
Tumblr
and
my
own
blog
(thank
you
social
media
for
all
the
extra
work).
The
tools
are
indeed
shaping
us.
Swystun
Communica>ons
is
fond
of
saying,
“Every
brand
is
a
story.
Make
yours
a
bestseller.”
There
are
many
ways
to
tell
a
story
with
a
host
of
variables
including
brevity.
My
fear
is
that
in
the
quest
for
the
short,
clever
and
pithy
we
will
forget
to
credit
our
audiences
with
intelligence.
Marke>ng
stories
exist
to
help
consumers
make
a
more
informed
purchase.
We
run
the
risk
of
aliena>ng
customers
who
are
more
than
willing
and
able
to
take
the
>me,
absorb
and
engage
with
smart
and
rich
stories.
Call
me
stupid
but
I
plan
to
go
down
figh>ng
against
the
dumbing
down
of
marke>ng.
Jeff
Swystun
President
and
Chief
Marke>ng
Officer
416.471.4655