Trust the Power of Subtraction

Thank the Midwest’s blizzard of this week to give me this latest topic. You know, for getting the best possible creative work from your team regarding advertising, marketing and communications, the list of available topics is nearly endless.

So there I am shoveling 8.5” of snow from driveway and surveying the seemingly miles of pavement to go before I nap, and it hit me. Often, it’s the discipline to keep on digging until you finally hit solid concrete that yields the “that’s it” moment. One can do the bare minimum and suffer the slushy, sliding, and refreezing results. Or one can keep scooping until you get to the essence: “clean pavement and sure traction” in the case of a driveway, and “convincing, memorable messaging” in the case of an advertising and marketing initiatives.

It’s slow, messy work. But what a difference removal of extraneous material can make.

As a young “know-it-all” copywriter, I first learned this lesson on a print ad concept I was working on. I came up with great Headline/Copy, only to be confronted by the art director’s admonition that I had to trim the headline down by four words. I was indignant. “What? The headline is perfect! I can’t possibly improve it by shortening it! Thankfully, I kept subtracting, even when I was sure I already had the answer. And guess what? I kept digging for until I finally hit the concrete of the “that’s it” moment. No one was more surprised than me. (Thanks, John Kuefler of Admark, Inc. which is now Callahan Creek Advertising in Lawrence, Kan.)

So 30 years later, the power of subtraction continues to be a tenant I insist on in my own work, and a lesson that I continually convey to young advertising and marketing professionals. In copywriting, as well as art and concept, it’s easy to be clever; it’s much more difficult to be clear, concise and instantly understood. Blaise Pascal, in 1657, wrote in a letter to a friend, noting that "...I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter."

A profound concept, when you stop to think about it.

One personal example is the initial campaign for "Metro Rate" at the University of Missouri-Kansas City – the extension of in-state tuition to residents of Kansas counties bordering Kansas City, Mo. Coming up with compelling headlines was easy enough, and some of the earlier ones probably could have worked. Still, none seemed to quite boil down the message to its most powerful message. As Director of Creative Services, I kept digging, hoping for less words and a more pointed message. Finally, communicating the message of saving money on education within one’s own backyard was reduced to the powerful and succinct: “Live Here? Save Here.” Four words. The accompanying art was equally terse.

The result: the campaign paid for itself that first year in new students. Since then, the UMKC “Metro Rate” has continued to draw more and more students from Kansas over the years. The “Live Here? Save Here.” messaging continues to this day, more than a decade later.

So my advice to all young-and-know-it-all creatives out there – and to those of you who manage them – is to follow a two-step process. 1. Give them room for those overly clever and often too-long copy and ornate artistic concepts. 2. Follow that up with the courage and discipline to keep the distillation process going. For the creative, effective solution you seek, the power of subtraction really adds up.

Contact Michael Johnson @ Michaelj1974@sbcglobal.net. And if you, too, love pithy quotes, check out the books at Amazon.com)

Michael Johnson: Look Who's Winning the TV Insurance War

Just a few years ago, who’d have thought we might be pointing to insurance commercials as some of the most interesting and compelling spots around?

Back in the old days (1970s), insurance commercials spoke in somber tones, reminding people that catastrophic accidents weren’t just something that happened to someone else. But then came US General, GEICO and a host of other upstart companies that wanted a piece that fear, going to war with the big names. The goal, of course was to paint insurance coverage as just another necessary evil and one company was just as good as another. Just imagine John Belushi’s “Animal House” character Bluto as an insurance pitchman: “It just doesn’t matter!”

So then we got the GEICO executions, first with the Cave Man motif, then morphing into an actual gecko as the personification of insurance. Surely the big names in the industry thought that wouldn’t work, and I can hear bald-headed boards of directors all over the country continue to expound that their brand-smart arguments would win the day.

Apparently not.

Suddenly, in the last few years, Allstate was on TV with the booming voice of Dennis Haysbert, pointing out the Allstate product advantages over “cut rate” insurers. Could it be that insurance had become a commodity … that the majority of the public really had come to the conclusion that who they chose “just didn’t matter?”

That’s a longer discussion for another time, however, because this blog is about advertising and marketing creativity: how it’s born, regardless of industry, and who’s doing it well.

Few commercials, and most insurance commercials, certainly fail on the creativity front. They may communicate brand, but they don’t get people talking to their friends about it.

But some ad guy for Allstate must be a helluva pitchman, because these “mayhem” commercials are as groundbreaking and loved by the public as the iconic Joe Sedelmaier commercials were in the“Where’s the beef” spots for Wendy's Restaurants.

As an ad guy, I loved the spots from the beginning, believing Allstate had launched a home run idea. The one I first heard people talking about was Allstate’s “lawn mayhem” commercial, combining personification of mayhem with a wicked slice-of-life truth. Take a look: Allstate Lawn Mayhem. I can imagine fathers all over the country hollering “crap, that’s how my son thinks,” and diving off the recliner for the phone while wondering if they really were as ready for disaster as they thought.

Obviously, the commercials must have tested well, because the mayhem series spawned many more: Teenage Girl Mayhem, Storm Damage Mayhem and Satellite Dish Mayhem.

Suddenly, the race for funny insurance commercials among the big names was on. Not content to sit on the sidelines, Farmers Insurance embarked on their own brand of insurance zaniness, coming up with an umbrella theme of their own – University of Farmers – complete with wry humor and special effects. Check out one of them: University of Farmers.

Good try. But the difference between the Farmers TV spots and the Allstate spots is huge. For Allstate, perfectly cast personification of mayhem not only gets to the point, it hits the funny bone of the American psyche. And that gets people talking.

The Farmers commercial tries too hard. It tries to communicate brand difference with the undercurrent of humor, and the result is underwhelming. You don’t do enough to sell the brand and you complicate the humor element by being so overblown. The Farmers idea is a sound one, and I imagine it was a whole lot funnier in the storyboard stage. No one is talking about the Farmers commercial around the office the next day.

Meanwhile, the Allstate commercials elevate the clever idea through their strikingly simple executions. The series continues to generate momentum, and most likely, more calls to All State insurance agents. Best of all, from a creativity point of view, the Allstate executions entertain and inform in fresh ways. Anyone else come up with a laugh-out-loud spot about a team flag? Allstate Flag Mayhem

Way to go, Allstate. To borrow a phrase from Larry the Cable Guy: “Now that’s funny, I don’t care who you are.”

As a result, I just may give my local Allstate guy a call.

Michael Johnson @ Michaelj1974@sbcglobal.net